Douglas County schools face pivotal summer of closures, growth and funding decisions

Douglas County schools are headed into a summer that could redraw where students go to class, which campuses stay open and how the district pays for both growth and decline. Superintendent Erin Kane faces deadlines that land before the 2026-27 school year, with new elementary boundaries, consolidation fallout and the possibility of a future tax request all moving at once.

The most immediate decision centers on Elementary School 50 and Elementary School 51, the two neighborhood schools funded by the district’s 2024 bond. One is rising in the Lyric subdivision in Lone Tree and the other in Sterling Ranch. District staff planned to bring proposed attendance boundaries to the school board on May 12, and the district says final boundary assignments must be finished by the end of the 2025-26 school year so families can be notified, enrollment can be forecast and staffing and capital plans can be set.

Those schools are scheduled to open in August 2027, with enrollment for the 2027-28 school year set to open in November 2026. Denver7 reported that the Lone Tree school is designed for 750 students in pre-K through fifth grade and is meant to reduce long bus rides for children who otherwise would be sent farther away.

At the same time, the district is already closing the book on a different part of town. On April 22, 2025, the Douglas County School Board of Education approved pairings for six Highlands Ranch elementary schools beginning with the 2026-27 school year. Saddle Ranch Elementary will consolidate into Eldorado Elementary, Heritage Elementary into Summit View Elementary, and Acres Green Elementary into Fox Creek Elementary. The district said the move followed nearly two years of planning and was driven by declining enrollment in parts of Highlands Ranch and the need for long-term financial sustainability.

The numbers explain why the district is pressing ahead. Kane told FOX31 that Highlands Ranch elementary enrollment was about 11,000 students in 2012 and was projected to fall to 6,000 by 2026 across 16 buildings. The district also said smaller schools cost about $2,500 more per student to sustain. FOX31 reported that impacted families will get transportation and waived bus fees for at least two years, while affected staff are guaranteed a job through the 2027-28 school year.

The funding backdrop is just as important. Voters approved Douglas County’s $490 million bond in November 2024 with 60% of the vote. District bond materials say the money will build the two new elementary schools, expand Sierra Middle School, improve aging campuses, grow Career and Technical Education and upgrade safety. A March 2025 bond report put $150 million toward new neighborhood school construction, including Elementary School 50 and Elementary School 51, with District 11 overseeing spending.

What makes this summer different is that Douglas County is trying to solve opposite problems at once. Lone Tree and Sterling Ranch are growing; Highlands Ranch is contracting. Kane’s choices over the next few months will shape not just building assignments, but staffing levels, commute patterns and the district’s financial course for years.