Meet John Classe


John Classe serves as a trustee for the Frisco Independent School District and is a past president of the board. First appointed in June 2014, John was elected to Place 6 in May 2015 and is now in his third term.



Together,


“It has been an honor representing the residents of Frisco ISD. Much good has happened for our students, staff, and community these past seven years. I am privileged to have been a part of the team that has worked to carry forward the community’s vision for its schools and am pleased to share some of those accomplishments with you.”

Expanded Student Opportunity

Introduced new choice programs at all levels including International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years Programme at Bright Academy, Diploma Programme at Frisco High School, Navy National Defense Cadet Corps at Lebanon Trail High School, Project Lead the Way, Advancement via Individual Determination (AVID), and INCubatoredu.

Increased college credit opportunities by expanding Advanced Placement (AP) courses to more than 35. Frisco ISD was honored by the College Board with placement on the Advanced Placement Honor Roll.

Expanded the dual-credit partnership with Collin College enabling high school seniors to graduate with an associate degree starting with the class of 2022.

Established a partnership with the University of North Texas to bring additional dual-credit opportunities to Frisco ISD students as UNT expands to Frisco.

Added new Career and Technical Education (CTE) industry certifications – now numbering more than 30.

Expanded elective courses for secondary students including health science courses, broadcast and communication courses, African American studies, AP Seminar, E-sports, middle school Computer Science1, Advanced Video Game Programming, Cybersecurity, GT American Studies2., and Aviation through a dual credit partnership with LeTourneau University3.

Opened 17 new campuses to accommodate over 19,000 additional students as Frisco ISD enrollment continues its rapid growth.

Began construction on high school 11 (Emerson High School) and high school 12 to maintain the highly sought-after student opportunity model unique to North Texas.

Began a rehabilitation program for our oldest campuses to maintain parity across Frisco ISD.

Established automatic admission to Tarleton State University for Frisco ISD students graduating in the top 25% of their class.

Implemented the expansion of our pre-K program from half-day to full-day.

Added to Frisco ISD’s one-of-a-kind partnerships as the PGA of America joins the Dallas Cowboys, FC Dallas, Dallas Stars, and Frisco Roughriders in providing unparalleled opportunity for students of multiple disciplines.


Academic Achievement

Maintained the highest overall accountability score (A/93) among the largest districts in the state.

Increased the Frisco ISD accountability rating for college, career, and military readiness.

Established the Frisco RAIL (Reaching All Innovative Learners), an online experience, providing courses, office hours, and tutorials to students needing schedule flexibility and more personalized learning.

Initiated development of a Community-Based Accountability System to measure student success using metrics important to the Frisco ISD community that are not already captured by the state accountability system.

Commissioned a study of special education needs resulting in over 48 additional staff members and resource additions for the department.

Revised GPA for Rank calculations to encourage students to make course selections based upon their individual interests.


Community Outreach

Expanded the opportunity for valuable community input and engagement through new committees including: Priorities-based budget, Long-range planning, Facilities and Programs Evaluation, and District of Innovation.  Interested community members are invited to apply annually.

Completed the Frisco ISD Future-Ready Learning student profile driven by valuable input from parents, community, and business.

Formed the Legislative Leadership Committee to educate parents, teachers, residents, and students about how local, state, and federal government actions impact Frisco ISD and to empower these stakeholders by encouraging them to recommend legislative priorities to the board of trustees.

Established FISD Insight – a community education program for residents providing a behind-the-scenes look at the operation of Frisco ISD.

Began Inside Scoop (formerly Coffee Talk) – a quarterly program open to parents and community members where the details of new district programs and initiatives are discussed with the superintendent and a member of the board of trustees.


Retain, Recruit, and Support Highly Effective Educators

Increased compensation the most in over a decade to maintain competitiveness.

Established a retention incentive and began providing an annual supply stipend.

Enhanced focus on issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion and allocated resources to onboard a strategist for oversight of this effort.

Added an alternative healthcare option for district employees and increased the district contribution to offset employee health premiums.

Improved substitute fill rates by partnering with ESS Educational Staffing.

Became the first public school district in the nation to be IMSLEC accredited as a dyslexia therapist training center.


Navigating the COVID-19 Pandemic

Advance planning allowed Frisco ISD to resume instruction after only a one day closure in March 2020.

Team members implemented protocols to safely reopen our campuses and resume extracurricular activities in the fall of 2020 providing families a choice between on-campus and virtual instruction.  The success of these protocols has allowed us to remain open without interruption.

Established a detailed, transparent COVID-19 dashboard to assess disease spread and evaluate the safety of our students and staff while in district care.

Provided WIFI hotspots to families lacking sufficient internet access at home during virtual instruction.


Safety and Security

Strengthened school safety with additional technology, personnel, and security measures including upgrades to our SAFER partnership, rollout of the StopIt! mobile app, standardization of emergency drills, active threat training, emergency planning for students with special needs, an updated traumatic injury response protocol, and stop-the-bleed training.

Added over 45 positions to the guidance and counseling department for an increased focus on mental health and wellness as part of our Whole-Child initiative.

Budget prioritization of school resource officers in all middle and high schools.

One of seven Texas districts to be named National Weather Service Storm Ready.


Fiscal Prudence and Responsibility

Achieved exceptional financial transparency ratings: FIRST rating of Superior Achievement, Transparency Star from the Texas Comptroller, Standard & Poor’s AA+ Underlying Rating, Moody’s Aa1 Underlying Rating, and Five-Star in TXSmartSchools.

Passed 2018 Tax Ratification Election (TRE) and Bond Proposition allowing for expanded student opportunity, lower class sizes, and more competitive teacher pay and resulting in the first tax rate reduction in over a decade.

Worked cooperatively with Texas legislators to affect public school finance reform during the 86th Texas Legislature.

Authorized refunding of voter-approved bonds saving Frisco ISD taxpayers over $100M in interest expense since 2014.

These efforts have resulted in a tax rate decrease three years in a row totaling more than 10% (15 pennies) – the lowest Frisco ISD tax rate in over 20 years.

Established the Department of Internal Audit to objectively evaluate district operations and independently report to the board of trustees.

Established an in-house legal department to reduce higher, routine third-party costs.