🏫 FISD just announced they're closing a middle school (and cutting 171 jobs)

The district unveiled its sustainability plan this week, and it's... a lot. With enrollment projected to drop from 63,000 to 53,000 students over the next decade, FISD is staring down a $28.6 million budget deficit for 2026-27.

Staley Middle School is getting retired. The district is calling it "capacity optimization," which is corporate speak for "we have more buildings than we need." They're also cutting 171 full-time teaching positions through attrition and restructuring the middle school instructional coach program.

Before you panic: the district says these cuts will happen through attrition (not layoffs), and average class sizes are expected to stay the same. Still, it raises real questions about long-term planning, especially for families with kids who’ll be in middle school in the next few years.

The enrollment situation is interesting because they're betting on new programs like Access Frisco and Frisco Flex to stabilize things, but those numbers won't be finalized until spring. So they're making cuts now based on projections, which feels a bit like flying blind.

As someone who's only been here since 2023, even I've heard the stories about how fast Frisco was growing. This feels like a completely different chapter. The district's got budget workshops scheduled through June if you want to follow along.

Look, I get it. Primary elections feel optional.

But here's the thing: less than one-fifth of registered Texas voters actually show up for primaries. Which means your vote carries way more weight than in November.

In 2022, 146 of Texas' 150 state House races were effectively decided in the primaries, not the general election.

If you skip March 3rd, you're basically letting a tiny fraction of voters pick who represents you for the next few years.

The Quick Facts

One thing that stood out to me: Primary voters tend to be older and more extreme in their party identification. Sixty percent identify as "strong Democrats" or "strong Republicans," and over two-thirds are 50 or older. Which means if you're a younger voter who's not super partisan, your voice is even more underrepresented.

I'm not going to tell you how to vote, but I am going to tell you that showing up matters. These are the people making decisions about schools, infrastructure, and everything else that affects our daily life here.

If you’re registered, take five minutes to check your polling location and what’ll be on your ballot; it’s one of the highest-impact things we can do locally.

If you haven't heard of Little Bit Bakery yet, you're missing out on what might be the most wholesome success story in Frisco right now.

The Origin Story: Angela Henson started baking cupcakes during the pandemic as a bored high school student.

Fast forward to today: She's running a full-fledged bakery from a wooden cart on her front porch on Nightfall Drive, with customers lining up every Saturday morning.

The Numbers Are Wild… She fills around 75 pre-orders per week:

Planning starts Saturday night. Ingredient pickup is Sunday after church. By Thursday/Friday she's pulling early mornings and late nights.

How TikTok Changed Everything: After a slow second weekend, she posted a quick video out of frustration.

By the next morning: thousands of views, and people showing up saying "I saw you on TikTok."

Several of her videos have gone viral since. It basically built the entire business.

Angela's intentional about keeping it small and personal rather than scaling into a storefront.

"I want it to be almost like an experience," she said. "I like the idea of a home bakery. I like it being in a neighborhood."

Where: Nightfall Drive in Frisco (address shared via her social media)
When: Saturdays (pre-order during the week or show up early)

Honestly, this is exactly the kind of small business that makes Frisco feel like an actual community and not just a sprawl of master-planned developments.