DENVER — The Colorado Department of Education released a report last week showing enrollment across the state is down by more than 10,000 students this school year compared to last year.
It’s a trend being felt in the state’s largest school districts, including Denver Public Schools.
DPS is the state’s largest district with about 89,000 students and nearly 200 schools. It is now down about 1,200 students this school year compared to last year and it’s a continued decline the district has been seeing for several years.
Public schools are funded based on how many students are enrolled, so fewer students mean less money for districts to work with.
DPS officials say the decline is tied to several factors, including lower birth rates since 2002 and housing affordability challenges. This year, the district also saw about 700 new-to-country students leave the system. The district says that loss feels systemic and is tied to both federal and state policies and they’re now seeing the impact of that.
Declining enrollment has already led to changes within the district. In November 2024, the DPS board voted to close seven schools and cut grades at three others.
District officials say they’re not taking any immediate action because of this new report. They say the district’s budget is stable for now thanks to years of fiscal planning. Still, they acknowledge more changes could come if enrollment continues to drop.
“Enrollment started declining in 2019, and we know because of how long birth rates have been declining, that we're that we're probably looking at least a decade plus of additional enrollment declines,” Andrew Huber, DPS executive director of enrollment and campus planning, said. “As we have fewer kids, I think it also means that, over time, we'll need to have fewer schools. We'll need to have fewer staff, both at the school and central office level.”
While DPS has recently closed several schools, the district is also adding schools in areas seeing new development, like the Green Valley Ranch area by Denver International Airport.
DPS leaders said while they can’t control declining birth rates, they do believe state and local decisions around housing affordability could make a meaningful difference.
For a full look at the Colorado Department of Education report click here.
