Keep Plano #1

04/20/2025

04/10/2025

WOW! Fantastic! #6 PLANO
Public Schools: A+
Good For Families: A+
Cost of Living: B-
Crime & Safety: B-

Read More: Texas Places 17 Cities Inside The Top 100 |

So which cities landed inside the top 100? Some of them will shock you.

03/17/2025

Author
Keep Plano #1
Steve Lavine is Running to replace Shelby Williams in special election May 3rd. He NEEDS PETITION SIGNATURES THIS WEEK!!! Please download, print and sign and either call number on petition for pickup, carefully scan and return to email on petition or we can run over to your house and you can sign then. Any of these PLEASE - wee need 200 signatures from Plano voters by March 21st! https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/l0ug0dzjuoeiarwz7hh81/Steve-Lavine-Petition-Revised-3-16-2025-EXTRA-LINES.pdf?rlkey=zi4j3ano3m66m3p4uinisztzz&dl=0

01/16/2025

"A Large Pill to Swallow" - Plano Looks at 2025 Bond Package

The bond referendum planned for May will likely be the largest in Plano’s history as city leaders seek to fix aging roads and infrastructure.

Proposal lacks anything for the arts.

Dallas Morning News story 1-15-2025

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/rzdywbua8fl554g5hszvi/Large-pill-to-swallow.pdf?rlkey=74flcqe48kvizahq5toh7dy0d&st=og9l4q74&dl=0

05/17/2023

Believe. Everything is Possible.

05/17/2023

There's work to do! Let's Keep the KP1 Flame Burning

Membership Information coming soon. Join Us!

Our Mission: To keep Plano one of Texas’ and America’s greatest cities to live, work and raise a family.​ Our Vision: To educate, empower and engage the diverse citizens of Plano

Voter turnout for the 2023 Local Elections in Collin County was 11.86%. Out of the 689,552 registered voters in the county, only 81,811 voted this election cycle. Local elected officials greatly impact our lives through public education, infrastructure and more.

How can we get more registered voters involved in local elections?

05/17/2023

Honored to attend the swearing in ceremony for two of our new Plano ISD Trustees, Tarrah Lantz and Katherine Chan Goodwin. Congratulation to them both.

05/08/2023

Mary Jacobs - This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. So glad we have three incoming school board members who will appreciate and support our PISD teachers! Also want to brag a little about my husband, Steve Lavine, who worked his butt off over the last few months, along with the candidates and many volunteers, to make it happen.

05/07/2023

Congratulations to the winners. Tarrah Lantz, Michael Cook and Katherine Chan Goodwin for being elected as Plano ISD School Board Trustees.
Fireworks Photo Credit Downs

05/07/2023

Out of control?
But opponents of the recapture system say it’s gotten out of control, collecting more money than is necessary to fund education. That includes Plesa.

Plesa said the school financing system is well-intentioned and shouldn’t be eliminated. But she said it needs reform to lessen the negative impact on districts like Plano that pay into it.
“We have created a system that, essentially, is unsustainable,” Plesa said.
Rising property values in wealthy districts like Plano means recapture payments have gone up, but the money school districts get from the state hasn’t changed. And there’s debate on where the excess recapture funds sent to the state end up.
Plesa said the money goes to the general fund, leaving public education. That’s why she filed a bill that would ensure excess property tax revenue collected from school districts stays in public education. It was referred to committee last week.
While Plesa said the money goes to the general fund, that’s a topic of debate.
Michael Meyer is the deputy finance manager for the Texas Education Agency. He said the money already stays in public education. He said the belief that the money goes to the general fund is a common misconception.

“That's not how it works,” he said. “They come to TEA, and they become part of the pool of funds that we use to make payments.”
Sikes also said the money stays in education — but not in school districts. She said the state also contributes money to charter schools, close $5 billion a year.

But Christy Rome, the president of the Texas School Coalition, said the state budget is a “black hole,” making it difficult to track where money goes. She said recapture funds were used last session to balance the state budget. This year, Rome said the money contributed to the state’s $32.7 billion budget surplus.

Plesa said she has heard these conflicting accounts about where the money ends up. She said that’s why she’s filed a bill for “taxparency” that would lay out where taxpayers’ dollars end up on their bills.

Plano ISD is known as a wealthy district — but it has been running on a budget deficit for about four years. And the money is running out.

05/07/2023

Plano ISD Joins Statewide Effort Urging Lawmakers to Address Inflation Impacts on School Funding
May 2, 2023
On May 1, Plano ISD joined forces with other school districts across the state to urge parents and supporters to contact state lawmakers about school funding. With only one month left in the legislative session, now is the time for our voices to be heard before the session ends on May 29.
Speaking at a joint press conference, School Board Vice President Nancy Humphrey stated, “For Plano ISD, this is an S.O.S moment—SUPPORT OUR SCHOOLS. Despite being one of the largest and wealthiest states in the country, Texas consistently ranks near the bottom in per-pupil spending on education. School districts need additional funding to be made whole from the impact of inflation over the last four years and going forward.”
Also representing Plano and the business community in this effort was City of Plano Economic Development Director Doug McDonald whose mom was a teacher for 25 years before retiring. He stated, “The number one asset that recruits global companies to the state of Texas is our schools. The number one challenge facing our companies is workforce. It’s not a simple fix. We have to continue building a pipeline of talent and that starts with our schools. Our future workforce is in our schools today.”
Plano economic development director Doug Mcdonald speaking at podium
In addition to the event in Dallas, similar events occurred in Fort Worth, Austin, El Paso, Midland-Odessa and Tyler.
It is important to note that school districts do not receive more funding when property values increase. We are allotted a certain amount of money per student regardless of our property values, and the amount allotted per student has not changed since 2019. Since then, we have all felt the impact of inflation on our household budgets, and school districts are no different.
Additionally, in Plano ISD, recapture payments to the state have increased by more than 50% since 2019. This means that more of our local tax dollars are being sent to the state, leaving less money to support our schools.
We are asking our legislators in Austin to provide school districts with additional funding to at least make up for inflation since 2019. To just keep up with inflation, our basic allotment must increase by nearly $1,000 across the board.
S.O.S.: Support Our schools, www.pisd.edu/supportourschools
We encourage you to take action and urge legislators to support our schools by visiting www.pisd.edu/SupportOurSchools This link will remain active through the end of the legislative session on May 29.