As Denver Public Schools announces school closures, several districts have already been through the process

Denver Public Schools recommended the closure of seven schools on Thursday, and a "grade-level restructure" at three others – but it isn’t the first Colorado district to go through the painful process of closing neighborhood schools, and it won’t be the last.

In November of 2022 – Jeffco Public Schools voted to close 16 elementary schools at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. The district closed two more K-8 schools at the end of the 2023-2024 school year. According to the district, the school age population in the county (ages 5-19) fell by 29,918 from 2000 to 2020. The State Demography office reports Jefferson’s County’s birth rate peaked in 2000 and has been falling since.

Jeffco has found new purposes for some of the 16 elementary schools that closed. Campbell elementary in Arvada became a preschool. Witt elementary in Westminster was leased to the Austin Centers for Exceptional Students. The former Coal Creek Canyon k-8 in Golden reopened this year as a new charter school - Jefferson Academy Coal Creek Canyon.

Some of the other former school buildings are currently for sale.

Education

DPS recommends seven school closures, three 'grade level restructures'

Landon Haaf

Aurora Public Schools has also faced demographic shifts leading to several schools being closed or repurposed as magnet schools in recent years. The building that was formerly Sable elementary was turned into a childhood development center this year. Paris Elementary reopened as a community hub with a focus on mental health.

Several other Colorado school districts are facing the same challenges with declining birth rates and aging households leading to lower enrollment in elementary schools. Next spring the Douglas County School District plans to announce schools in Highlands Ranch that will be closed and consolidated due to declining enrollment.

The Poudre school district was set to announce school closures in May of 2024, but put plans on hold after community protests. The district still has not determined how to address declining enrollment and a budget shortfall.