DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — As many Douglas County School District (DCSD) students return to classrooms Wednesday, the school district is working to address declining enrollment and bus driver shortages, while putting bond money to use across the district.
DCSD will consolidate six elementary schools into three buildings for the 2026-2027 school year because of the aging demographic with less school-aged children in the area.
"In Highlands Ranch, which is 38,000 homes all by itself, we have 16 elementary schools in Highlands Ranch that used to serve almost 12,000 kids, and today, that number is getting close to 6,000 kids in those same 16 buildings. That's just not sustainable," DCSD Superintendent Erin Kane said.
In November 2024, voters passed a $490 million bond to fund district-wide improvements and new buildings. DCSD will build two new elementary schools, one in the Lyric community in Ridgegate and another in the Sterling Ranch community in Highlands Ranch. The schools will each hold about 750 students and open for the 2027-2028 school year.
The district said bond money will also go toward expansions at Sierra Middle School in Parker, new career pathways at Legacy Campus in Lone Tree, district-wide security improvements and upgrades to school infrastructure.
Kane said the district is also working to hire more bus drivers to fill staffing shortages. DCSD is again using a rolling cancellation bus schedule for the first part of the school year to address the shortages. The district will cancel five to six general education bus routes each week. Kane said the district needs to hire about 12 more drivers to get back to normal routes.
"We do believe that we are making incredible progress and that we will be back by about second quarter. That's certainly our hope. You know, there's a lot of factors that we can't control, but we're really excited that we're in such a better position than we were at this time last year," Kane said.
The district gives training for new hires to get a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) and offers some of the highest pay compared to other school districts, according to Kane. DCSD is offering starting pay of $25.74 per hour to bus drivers with a CDL.
