Amid a statewide decline in student enrollment and other Colorado school closures, the Douglas County School District plans to close up to three of its elementary schools in the near future, according to the district.

The school district is considering “pairing” and “consolidating” six elementary schools within Highlands Ranch — a municipality with more than enough schools but not enough students, according to district officials.

DCSD officials said a decision on what elementary school will close is to be made in April following community feedback and public meetings. Closures are slated to occur in August 2026.

“What makes Douglas County unique, however, is that while we have some areas of declining enrollment, we have other areas experiencing massive growth,” officials said in a statement, while mentioning growth in the Sterling Ranch and RidgeGate areas.

Douglas County voters in November supported a $490 million school bond to build new schools in Sterling Ranch and RidgeGate. That same bond measure failed in previous proposals in the past two years.

Voters embrace $490 million school bond in Douglas County

“Because our school district is over 850 square miles, we are simultaneously working to address both growth and decline,” DCSD officials added. “Growth and decline discussions have been underway in our community for nearly two years and any decisions will continue to be made with transparency and community input.”

During a video conference meeting on Tuesday, DCSD Superintendent Erin Kane said the district currently needs to bus students to other areas to round out classroom sizes.

“We can’t have the same number of buildings that housed 11,000 kids house 6,000 kids and offer fantastic opportunities,” Kane said. “The overhead involved in that is catastrophic, or would be catastrophic if we wait a really long time and wait until we’re falling off a fiscal cliff, which is why we’re trying to address this now.”

Meanwhile, Denver Public Schools approached its declining enrollment by announcing it would immediately close some of its schools by the end of the school year. The Denver Public Schools Board of Education unanimously voted to close seven schools and restructure three others in a November meeting.

The process to act upon school closures in Douglas County will last years, according to DCSD officials.

Beginning in January, DCSD leaders will consider criteria for school closures until, in April, deciding what schools will close by the beginning of the 2026 school year.

A final meeting to inform stakeholders takes place at the Cresthill Middle School library, 9195 Cresthill Lane, Highlands Ranch at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 11.

“Overflowing schools and shrinking schools result in limiting opportunities for students,” DCSD officials said, adding the school district is “reaching a point where not only does it need to build elementary schools in fast-growing, new developments, it also needs to “right-size” some existing schools to maximize educational opportunities for our students.”

The Denver Gazette reached out to the DCSD school board for further comment.

The Denver Gazette’s news partner, 9NEWS, contributed to this report.