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Prosper Independent School District

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Prosper Independent School District
Address
605 E 7th St, Prosper, Texas, 75078
Prosper, Texas
United States
District information
TypePublic
MottoGrounded by Tradition, Soaring to New Beginnings
GradesPK-12
SuperintendentDr. Holly Ferguson[1]
Deputy superintendent(s)
  • Dr. Greg Bradley
  • Dr. Kyle Penn
  • Mr. Jeff Crownover
Chair of the boardBill Beavers
SchoolsEarly Childhood Center: 1
Elementary: 18
Middle: 5
High: 4
Budget362.7 million USD (2024–2025)[2]
NCES District ID4836000[2]
District IDTX-043912
Students and staff
Students28,118 (2023-2024)[3]
Teachers1,597.27 (2020–2021)[2]
Staff2,656.46 (2024-2025)[4]
Student–teacher ratio18:1
Other information
Phone Number(469)219-2000
Websitewww.prosper-isd.net

Prosper Independent School District (PISD or Prosper ISD) is a public school district based in Prosper, Texas, United States. Located in Collin County, a portion of the district extends into Denton County.

The district enrollment was 28,118 as of the 2023-24 school year.[5]

The town of Prosper continues to experience large population growth. In the 2018-19 school year, the district enrollment was 14,287 with 1 High School and 2 Middle Schools.[6] In the 2020-21 school year, the enrollment was 19,140 students.[7] In the 2023-24 school year, the enrollment was 28,118 students, with 3 high schools and 4 middle schools in the district.[5]

In the 2018-19 school year, Prosper High School became a 6A school, the largest size of school under UiL classification. Rock Hill High School opened in Fall 2020, becoming the second high school in the district. In the 2022-23 school year, Rock Hill also became a 6A school, meaning both schools were not only in the highest classification, but would also play in the same district for athletics, guaranteeing games between the two schools.

The district continues to open new schools as population growth increases the demands. For the 2022-23 school year, Prosper ISD opened a new school, Joyce Hall Elementary. In Fall 2023, Walnut Grove High School opened off the south side of East First Street, between Coit Road and Custer Road as a 5A school. Additionally, two elementary schools and the Early Childhood School opened that year.

Richland High School is scheduled to open in the fall of 2025, located at the southeast corner of Teel Road and Fishtrap Road on the west side of Prosper. There are also signs for future high schools on the south side of Parvin Road (between Dallas Parkway and County Road 1381), and the north side of County Road 123 (between Custer Road and Lake Forest Drive in northwest McKinney), which would bring the total to 6 high schools. PISD has planned to have 6-8 comprehensive 5A high schools at build-out.

In 2011, the school district was rated "Recognized" by the Texas Education Agency.

Prosper ISD has its own police department separate from the Town of Prosper Police. This is because PISD covers areas and has schools in six municipalities (Prosper, Texas; Celina, Texas; Frisco, Texas; McKinney, Texas; Collin County; and Denton County). A Prosper police officer would only have jurisdiction in the town of Prosper, while a PISD officer can cover any school in any area of Prosper ISD.[8]

Demographics

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Prosper ISD Ethnicity Data 2023-2024[7]
Ethnicity Percent
White 50.5%
Asian/Pacific Islander 18.09%
Hispanic 13.62%
African American 9.79%
Other 0.02%
Two or More Races 7.78%

Schools

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High Schools (Grades 9-12)
School Name Mascot Year Founded Locaation Additional Information
Prosper High School Eagles 1902 Prosper Established as Prosper School in 1902; relocated in 2000, 2009
Rock Hill High School Blue Hawks 2020 Frisco High School #2
Walnut Grove High School Wildcats 2023 Prosper High School #3
Middle Schools (Grades 6-8)
School Name Mascot Year Founded Locaation Additional Information
Lorene Rogers Middle School Eagles 2008 Prosper Replaced Prosper Middle School
Reynolds Middle School Eagles 2010 Prosper Middle School #2; Building opened as Prosper High in 2000
Bill Hays Middle School Hawks 2019 Frisco Middle School #3
William Rushing Middle School Raptors 2020 Prosper Middle School #4
Daniel L. Jones Middle School Jaguars 2024 Frisco Middle School #5
Elementary Schools (Grades K-5)
School Name Grades Year Founded Locaation Additional Information
Judy Rucker Elementary School K-5 1995 Prosper Name changed from Prosper Elementary in 2005
R. Steve Folsom Elementary School K-5 2005 Prosper Elementary School #2
John Baker Elementary School K-5 2007 McKinney Elementary School #3
Judy Cockrell Elementary School K-5 2012 Prosper Elementary School #4
Light Farms Elementary School K-5 2015 Celina Elementary School #5
Windsong Ranch Elementary School K-5 2016 Prosper Elementary School #6
Jim & Betty Hughes Elementary School K-5 2016 McKinney Elementary School #7
Ralph & Mary Lynn Boyer Elementary School K-5 2018 Celina Elementary School #8
John Spradley Elementary School K-5 2018 Frisco Elementary School #9
Jack & June Furr Elementary School K-5 2019 McKinney Elementary School #10
Chuck & Cindy Stuber Elementary School K-5 2019 Prosper Elementary School #11
Sam Johnson Elementary School K-5 2020 Celina Elementary School #12
Mrs. Jerry Bryant Elementary School K-5 2021 Prosper Elementary School #13
Mike and Janie Reeves Elementary School K-5 2021 McKinney Elementary School #14
Joyce Hall Elementary School K-5 2022 Prosper Elementary School #15
Lilyana Elementary School K-5 2023 Prosper Elementary School #16
Dan Christie Elementary School K-5 2023 Celina Elementary School #17
Betty Jackson Elementary School K-5 2024 Frisco Elementary School #18
Other Campuses
School Name Grades Year Founded Location Additional Information
Brenda Calhoun Early Childhood School EE-PK 2023 McKinney
Disciplinary Alternative Education Placement DAEP 2014 Prosper Located in 1963 building
Future Facilities
School Name Grades Projected Opening Location Additional Information
Richland High School 9-12 2025 Prosper High School #4
Unnamed High School 9-12 2028 McKinney High School #5; Located in the western portion of the district
Unnamed High School 9-12 2030 Prosper High School #6; Located near Moseley MS; Unfunded
Pete Moseley Middle School 6-8 2025 Prosper Middle School #6
Unnamed Middle School 6-8 2027 ???? Middle School #7
Unnamed Middle School 6-8 2030 ???? Middle School #8; Unfunded
Unnamed Middle School 6-8 2032 ???? Middle School #9; Unfunded
Jana L. Thomson Elementary School K-5 2025 Prosper Elementary School #19
Virgie Witt Smothermon Elementary School K-5 2025 Prosper Elementary School #20
Unnamed Elementary School K-5 2026 ???? Elementary School #21
Unnamed Elementary School K-5 2027 ???? Elementary School #22
Unnamed Elementary School K-5 2028 ???? Elementary School #23
Unnamed Elementary School K-5 2029 ???? Elementary School #24
Unnamed Elementary School K-5 2030 ???? Elementary School #25
Unnamed Elementary School K-5 2031 ???? Elementary School #26
Unnamed Elementary School K-5 2031 ???? Elementary School #27
Former Facilities
School Name Year Founded Year Closed Additional Information
Prosper School #1 1902 1910 Building sold in 1910
Prosper School #2 1911 1923 Built at site of Prosper School #1; caught fire and was replaced
Prosper School #3 1923 1963 Built at site of Prosper Schools #1 and #2
Prosper School #4 1963 2000 New location
Prosper Middle School 2000 2008 Established at site of Prosper School #4; was renovated into Prosper ISD Administration Building

History

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Prosper School was established in 1902. It had 4 classrooms, 3 teachers, and 100 students. It was sold and moved off in 1910, with a new school opening on the same site in 1911. The new campus had 9 classrooms, 5 teachers, and housed grades 1-10. This school caught fire and was replaced in 1923. The 3rd campus built on this site also had 9 classrooms and 5 teachers, but housed grades 1-11.

Around 1935, Prosper ISD consolidated with many local school districts. These included Richland, Rockhill, Franklin, Hutcherson (White Elephant), Walnut Grove, Pleasant Ridge (Possum Trot), Rheas Mill, and Bloomdale. Some of the buildings from the other schools were moved to the site of Prosper School.

In 1942, the mascot of Prosper School changed from the Deer to the Eagle.

In 1963, Prosper School moved to a new location. It had 6 elementary classrooms, 9 secondary classrooms, 14 teachers, and 237 students in grades 1-12.

In 1995, Prosper Elementary opened with grades PK-4.

In 2000, a new Prosper High School was built for grades 9-12. Prosper Middle School was established at the 1963 campus with grades 5-8.

In 2005, Folsom Elementary opened with grades PK-3. Prosper Elementary was renamed Rucker Elementary and hosted grades 4-5, with Prosper Middle School hosting grades 6-8.

In 2006, Pre-K and 6th grade moved to Rucker, freeing up space at Folsom (K-3) and PMS (7-8).

In 2007, Baker Elementary opened, with all 3 elementary schools now hosting grades PK-6.

In 2008, Rogers Middle School opened with grades 6-8, replacing Prosper Middle School. The 3 elementary schools now housed grades PK-5, with Rucker still hosting Head Start. The PMS campus was renovated into PISD's Administration Building.

In 2009, Prosper High School moved into its new $120 million dollar campus, which was the most expensive high school ever built in Texas at the time.

In 2010, the former PHS building opened after a year of renovations as Reynolds Middle school, housing grades 7-8. With this change, Rogers Middle School housed all PISD 5th and 6th graders.

In 2012, Cockrell Elementary was opened.

In 2015, Light Farms Elementary was opened.

In 2016, Hughes and Windsong Elementary schools opened, which allowed the district to move from PK-4 elementary campuses to grades PK-5. With this transition, both middle schools hosted grades 6-8.

In 2018, the University Interscholastic League classified PISD's first high school as 6A.[9]

In 2019, Children's Health Stadium opened as a 12,000 seat stadium for Prosper ISD football games. With this addition, Prosper High School played home games at Children's Health Stadium, moving away from the relatively tiny Eagle Stadium near Reynolds Middle School. Children's Health Hospital paid $2.5 million dollars for the naming rights to the stadium.[10]

The same year, Hays Middle School opened, becoming the first school in Prosper ISD with an animal other than an Eagle as their mascot or with school colors other than green and white. Hays uses the Hawk as their mascot and uses the primary school color blue. Rock Hill High School, into which Hays feeds, used the Blue Hawks as the school's mascot and blue as the primary school color when it opened in 2020.

In 2020, Rock Hill High School opened, meaning PISD had more than one high school for the first time in district history. Rock Hill High School was built for roughly $200 million dollars,[11] making it, at the time, the most expensive high school ever built in Texas. That fall, Prosper also opened Johnson Elementary School, named after Representative Sam Johnson, and Rushing Middle School, named after former superintendent William Rushing.

Criticism

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In September 2015, Greg Wright created controversy for the school and the Prosper School District as reported in the Dallas Morning News when he was caught criticizing a teacher that reported another teacher from PHS to the police for inappropriately touching a student.[12]

In 2018, two editorials were removed from Prosper High School's student newspaper. John Burdett, the principal of the school, claimed that it put the school in an incorrectly assessed negative position.[13] The students claimed that they would be censored if they tried to criticize the school.[14]

In 2022, a bus driver from Prosper ISD was accused of sexually abusing two girls "more than 100 times."[15][16] The bus driver mainly drove buses for an elementary school that fed into Rock Hill, but had also previously served Rock Hill High School students. The victims’ parents eventually found out about the abuse and filed a lawsuit. Prosper ISD fired the bus driver. Neither the district nor the school publicly announced the incident until over three months after the incident.[17] According to the parent lawsuit, the parents of the victims received a phone call from the school's superintendent requesting that the accusations not be made public "so as to not attract media attention to her family or to Prosper ISD staff."[18][19][20] This perceived lack of transparency incensed many members of the school's PTA, who called for further investigation in meetings. For further investigation, Prosper ISD hired a firm with ties to the school, although parents and the PTA demanded the school hire an independent third party firm.[21][22] Several parents have called for the resignation of the superintendent and other high-ranking officials at the high school, with some PTA meetings ending with chants to fire the superintendent.[23] No school administrators have resigned since then, however.[24]

References

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  1. ^ "Administrative Staff / District Leadership". Prosper ISD. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  2. ^ a b c "Search for Public School Districts – District Detail for Prosper Isd". National Center for Education Statistics. Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved 2022-10-31.
  3. ^ "2022 Annual Report". Prosper ISD. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  4. ^ "2022 Annual Report". Prosper ISD. Retrieved 2023-11-15.
  5. ^ a b "Prosper ISD At A Glance / Prosper ISD At A Glance". www.prosper-isd.net. Retrieved 2023-11-12.
  6. ^ "Prosper ISD". Texas Public Schools. 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  7. ^ a b "PROSPER ISD | Profile | Explore Texas Schools".
  8. ^ "WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR PISD HAVING ITS OWN POLICE DEPARTMENT?". 2020-09-23.
  9. ^ Alex Lessard, Hailey Sutton and Sara Carpenter (2018-02-05). "Prosper athletics ready to make the jump to 6A". Prosper Press. Retrieved 2019-09-12.
  10. ^ "Naming the football stadium isn't enough. Children's Health will pay Prosper ISD nearly $3 million more in programs and cash". Dallas News. 2019-10-20. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  11. ^ "Rock Hill High School". Pogue Construction. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  12. ^ Miller, Steve (2018-08-24). "Administrator who helped cover up sexual misconduct is still working for Prosper ISD". The Texas Monitor. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  13. ^ Student Press Law Center
  14. ^ Student Journalists Allege Censorship
  15. ^ "More families coming forward with abuse allegations against Prosper ISD bus driver, attorneys say". wfaa.com. August 30, 2022. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  16. ^ Button, Russell. "Prosper Parents Outraged After Discovering Sexual Abuse of Young Girls by Bus Driver". Button Law Firm.
  17. ^ "Parents angry Prosper ISD waited months to address child sex assault allegations against bus driver". wfaa.com. August 30, 2022. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  18. ^ "Family sues Prosper ISD, says daughters were abused by bus driver more than 100 times". Dallas News. 2022-08-25. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  19. ^ Quillen • •, Alanna. "Parents Furious Over Prosper ISD's Handling of Sexual Assault Allegations". NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  20. ^ Texas Eastern District Court. Doe v. Prosper Independent School District. 6 Dec. 2022, https://texasscorecard.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/prosper-isd-second-amended-complaint-12-6-22.pdf . Accessed 7 Apr. 2023.
  21. ^ Yager, Peyton (2022-09-13). "Prosper ISD to hire firm to investigate after lawsuit alleges bus driver sexually abused students". FOX 4. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  22. ^ "Prosper school trustees hire new firm to investigate response to sexual abuse allegations". Dallas News. 2022-09-13. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  23. ^ Anderson, Erin (2022-12-21). "Prosper ISD Parents Await Report on Sex Abuse Scandal and Cover-up While Superintendent Job Hunts". Texas Scorecard. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  24. ^ Anderson, Erin (2022-09-14). "Prosper ISD Parents Again Demand Accountability for Sex Abuse Cover-up". Texas Scorecard. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
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