FISD Insight
Provides
Behind-the-
Scenes Look
at District
Operations
New educational outreach program helps
citizens connect to their school district.
How does Frisco ISD educate a stu-
dent, feed a student, transport a student,
communicate with parents and make de-
cisions that affect the community and
taxpayers?
The District launched FISD Insight in
spring 2017 to shed light on all that goes
on behind-the-scenes to get a child from
kindergarten to the point that he or she is
ready for college or the job market.
This year’s pilot class was the first
step in offering a diverse group of resi-
dents, volunteers and parents the chance
to explore the District at a deeper level.
FISD Insight provided an opportunity for
citizens to see what is involved in educat-
ing a student – from the type of cloths
a school custodian uses to clean class-
rooms on a daily basis to face-to-face
discussion with members of the Frisco
ISD Board of Trustees.
“This fills in the gaps,” one class mem-
ber said after the program was complete.
Frisco ISD doesn’t just serve most of
the City of Frisco – it reaches into the
26 | FOCUS
communities of Little Elm, Plano and
McKinney as well. The ongoing goal of
FISD Insight is to improve interaction
and knowledge of the District among
many different groups of people, wheth-
er they have students who attend FISD
schools, are active in their neighborhoods
and community or have an interest in
education.
“This was an opportunity to bring citi-
zens together to see how the puzzle piec-
es fit together around our primary mission
– educating students,” said Jamie Driskill,
Frisco ISD director of community rela-
tions and marketing. “We looked at the
classroom, the arts, athletics, technology
and the unseen areas that are essential
such as transportation, security, health
services, business services and more.”
The pilot class was made up of people
recommended by area chambers of com-
merce, the Frisco ISD Council of PTAs and
various community leaders. Some class
members were already somewhat in-
volved in the school district, while others
had no real previous experience with FISD.
The goal was to have a cross-section of
people who would be able to share their
experience and give constructive feed-
back to the District.
Each FISD Insight class member was
also asked to make an individual campus
visit, preferably to a school they hadn’t
been connected to previously and to at-
tend a School Board meeting. Class mem-
bers were recognized at the June School
Board meeting for their participation in
the first year of the educational outreach
program.
“My experience with FISD Insight gave
me a deeper understanding of how FISD
operates and ranks among other simi-
larly-sized districts, as well as strategies
to address the budget shortfall and pro-
vide the same level of excellence that
FISD students and parents expect,” said