Frisco ISD Trustee Stephanie Elad, a two-term board member and corporate HR executive, appeared on the July 9, 2026 episode of The Building Texas Show to discuss the district's shifting landscape. Once one of the fastest-growing school districts in North Texas, Frisco ISD is now landlocked and facing declining enrollment. Elad, who was reelected last year to a term running through 2028, addressed the implications for teachers, families, and taxpayers.
Elad recalled a pivotal moment from an April 2021 board meeting that spurred her candidacy. After the board president declared, 'this is our meeting, not the community's,' Elad felt compelled to speak up. 'That just did not sit right with me,' she told host Justin McKenzie. The comment triggered a standing ovation and statewide press coverage, leading to her successful 2022 run for office.
Regarding teacher retention, Elad highlighted her efforts to bring a confidential, third-party employee engagement survey into the district. This tool, she explained, helps identify issues affecting teacher morale and retention, allowing the board to address them proactively. 'Tough conversations with staff and parents have never really been foreign to me because I've just been doing it for so long,' she said, drawing on her HR background.
The discussion also focused on workforce readiness and the stigma surrounding trade careers. Elad pointed to a neighbor who owns a plumbing business and earns a six-figure income but cannot find apprentice plumbers. She advocates for Frisco high schoolers to enter apprenticeship programs that could lead to salaries of $60,000 to $70,000 within a year or two of graduation, without the need for a four-year degree or student debt. The district is building plumbing, electrical, and HVAC apprenticeship pathways alongside existing CTE tracks such as medical terminology, legal assistant work, and e-gaming.
McKenzie connected the thread to his advisory work with the startup Founding Up and to PTECH welding programs in the San Antonio area, where students graduate with as many as 60 college credit hours through community college partnerships. Elad also discussed the district's new superintendent, hired roughly a month before taping, expressing renewed optimism about Frisco ISD's next chapter.
Elad emphasized the importance of preparing students for careers that AI cannot replace and urged families to participate in low-turnout school board elections. The full episode, titled 'Frisco's Population Boom: What's Really Happening?', is available now on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
