Plano ISD reports 2,600-student year-over-year enrollment drop; district outlines recovery and attendance efforts

Plano Independent School District—s leadership told trustees on Sept. 9 that the district—s early fall snapshot showed 43,905 qualifying students, a decline of about 2,646 students from last year, and outlined a multi-pronged effort to find students who did not return and to improve attendance. Johnny Hill, deputy superintendent for business, employee services and technology, said the district bases its yearly snapshots on the last Friday in October, but the board—s staff ran a preliminary check the first week of September and recorded "about 43,905" students. Hill said the district built its budget on a projected enrollment of 45,674 students and that the difference from that projection represents roughly 1,700 fewer students than expected. "If you do 1,700 kids times 10,000, you're talking about $17,000,000," Hill said, using the district—s per-student average to estimate budget impact. Superintendent Dr. Theresa Williams and Assistant Superintendent Dr. Courtney Gober described the district—s…