Plano | May 2026

Education

BY MICHAEL CROUCHLEY & PATRICIA ORTIZ

PISD anticipates $44M budget shortfall next year Plano ISD is anticipating a $44 million deficit budget for fiscal year 2026-27, Chief Financial Officer Courtney Reeves said during a May 6 board of trustees meeting. The big picture PISD department budgets

The city completes purchase of campuses Three former Plano ISD campuses are in the final step of the purchasing process with the city of Plano. The gist Property ownership for the former Davis Elementary officially transferred to the city April 22 and for the former Armstrong Middle on May 6, Plano Director of Planning Christina Day said during a presentation at a joint meeting between the city of Plano and PISD on April 30. Property ownership for the former For- man Elementary will officially be transferred May 27, Day said. Residents expressed strong opposition to housing redevelopments for the properties at city open house meetings. “They really wanted it to be a communi- ty-focused redevelopment,” Day said.

District staff is expecting around $561.9 million in expenditures and $517.1 million in net revenue. PISD’s expenditures are projected to decrease by $3.99 million from last fiscal year, but revenues are expected to decrease by more than $14.5 million. Reeves attributed that decrease largely to declining enrollment and recapture, a program that reallocates tax revenue from property-rich districts to those the state deems property-poor. PISD is expected to lose 2,008 students next school year, which will cut into state funding determined by enrollment. The district’s recapture bill is expected to be $132.54 million, a $14 million increase from FY 2025-26.

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SOURCE: PLANO ISD/COMMUNITY IMPACT

Diving deeper PISD’s department budget will rise by 0.2%, the lowest year-over-year increase since FY 2021-22. Deputy Superintendent Johnny Hill said that PISD has run a deficit balance “for years.” “We’re needing to look at the actual structural components of our budgets and make some signif- icant changes going forward if we continue to lose students at the rate that we have,” Hill said.