School District 49 has reached a milestone.

The district, which encompasses the parts of northeast Colorado Springs and areas of unincorporated El Paso County around Falcon, is now the largest school district in the county, according to student population data released by the state Wednesday.

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After trailing Academy District 20 for five years, D-49 surpassed D-20’s total enrollment during this year’s October student count.

The feat comes despite reporting 150 fewer students than the previous year for a total of 26,649 students. By comparison, D-20 lost only 38 students, bringing its total down to 26,569.

D-49 is now the 10^th largest school district in Colorado, followed directly by D-20 as the 11th. Colorado Springs D-11 is now ranked as the 14th largest district at 22,265 students while Harrison D-2 is ranked 20th at 12,301.

The slight drops in enrollment mirrors trends felt throughout the state over the past five years. That said, Colorado lost 399 students, or .1%, from a year ago which is the smallest percentage loss reported since 2017 and the smallest total student loss since 1988’s 155.

The state total for PK-12 students is now 881,065. 

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Despite the overall losses, Colorado also reported gains in other demographics.

Declines continue to be felt in preschool through second grades due to declining birthrates, according to Colorado Department of Education commissioner Susana Córdova, while the state posted gains in minority student groups like multilingual learners, students experiencing homelessness and students with individualized learning plans (IEP).

The number of full-time homeschooled students and students registered in online educational programs also increased, a trend that dates back to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Colorado Springs area mirrors public school trend of declining enrollment

Elsewhere in El Paso County, Fountain-Fort Carson D-8, Ellicott D-22 and Edison 54 JT all reported slight gains in enrollment.

After reporting their own gains in 2023, D-11 continued its decade-long trend of losing students this year with 479 fewer than the 22,744 reported in October 2023.