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Plano ISD’s enrollment is projected to dip below 40,000 students by the 2029-30 school year, according to a recent demographer report.

The overview: The district’s enrollment was down by 2,712 students in 2025-26 from the previous school year, outpacing the projected enrollment decline by more than 1,300.

PISD’s demography consultant Rocky Gardner of Zonda Demographics told the district’s board of trustees Jan. 20 that he expects the enrollment to continue declining, but “not at the same pace” as this year’s decline.

“We did see a little bit of double whammy in Plano this past year,” Gardner said. “We had about 500 less newcomers and we had about 150 more leavers.”

Zooming in: Some of the district’s enrollment decline can be attributed to the city’s housing stock, according to the presentation. For single-family homes, both the number of new constructions and closed sales in Plano have decreased over the last seven years. From 2018 to 2024, new construction starts and closed sales dropped by 291 and 416, respectively.

Wild Birds Unlimited, a locally-owned nature shop, is opening a new location near south Plano.

The details: The business currently has two locations, including a McKinney shop opened by Cheryl “Birdie” Miller and a Dallas location opened by David Hurt. Miller said in an email the pair hope to open the new location in early March, with a grand opening scheduled for April 10-11.

Miller said the new location will sell bird feeding and observation supplies, including bird baths, binoculars and region-specific seeds, and will feature an event room for education programs and guest speakers focused on birds and other nature-related topics.

Quote of note: “I grew up feeding the birds as my father was an avid birder," Miller said. "I raised my kids with a love of birds and nature and now that they are all grown up, they all still participate in the hobby."

Interested in news from businesses in the McKinney area? Check out 15 businesses now open, coming soon and other updates from the west McKinney area.

1. Chase Bank: The branch offers a variety of personal, business and commercial banking services, and includes a drive-up ATM.

• Opened Dec. 9
• 12141 W. University Drive, McKinney

• Opened in November
• 6541 Collin McKinney Parkway, Ste. 100, McKinney

• Opened Dec. 17
• 801 S. Stonebridge Drive, Ste. 114, McKinney