FISD's speech and debate students are currently blocked from participating in many prestigious tournaments, including nationally-ranked and national-qualifying tournaments.

FISD's speech and debate students are currently blocked from participating in many prestigious tournaments, including nationally-ranked and national-qualifying events such as NSDA Districts, the National Speech & Debate Tournament, and the Harvard and Berkeley Invitationals.

Students can only attend these events by traveling with a district teacher using limited campus funds; when staffing or funding is unavailable, which is often the case, participation becomes impossible. Meanwhile, other schools within the same district have been permitted to attend these tournaments with no explanation provided to excluded students. Policies are never clearly communicated to students or parents, leaving dedicated competitors in the dark about their opportunities throughout the school year.

For students who spend months researching, writing, and practicing, this is more than disappointing. It means losing access to experiences that build public speaking, critical thinking, and leadership skills. Students in neighboring districts like Plano ISD regularly compete at prestigious out-of-state tournaments, supported by the transparency and institutional backing that FISD currently lacks.

Frisco ISD has strong academic programs and dedicated educators who support speech and debate at the local and state levels. We are grateful for those efforts on our administrators' parts. Our request is simply to ensure that students who are willing to work for these opportunities are not prevented from pursuing them due to structural limitations.

We are asking the district to consider several practical policy solutions that are currently used successfully in debate programs across Texas and nationwide:

1. First, allow alternative student supervision models, such as district-approved volunteer coaches, parent-proxy supervision, or hybrid supervision structures. These options would maintain safety while reducing the reliance on teacher availability.
2. Second, allow outside funding sources not tied to specific students, such as booster organizations or community sponsorships, to support coach travel and lodging. Currently, only a limited fund administered by the campus can support these expenses and no strong efforts are being made to accomodate coaches that are willing to support competitors. With a transparent framework, these funds will help expand tournament access.
3. Finally, establish clearly written guidelines outlining supervision requirements, funding parameters, and approval procedures so that families and campuses understand how participation can occur in order to successfully support their dedicated students.

Speech and debate tournaments are not simply recreational trips. They are rigorous academic competitions that prepare students for college, careers, and civic leadership.

Students who earn the opportunity to compete, or are capable of doing so, should be given the chance to try.

Please sign to make an impact and support expanded national opportunities for FISD speech and debate students.

-- Arshia Gottipaty, Nithya Garapaty, Gaayathri Tadepalli | Empowering Speakers for Excellence | esespeaking.org