A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

A Back to School Special Report on the Baby Boom Echo: America's Schools Are Overcrowded and Wearing Out -- (September 8, 1998)

Colorado

Colorado's enrollment is expected to rise from 696,000 students in 1998 to 724,000 students in 2008, placing this state tenth in the nation in terms of overall growth. About two-thirds of this increase will be in grades 9 to 12. Educators anticipate that 150 new schools will need to be built in the next five years. Most of the enrollment growth is suburban, especially along the front range and to a lesser extent on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains. In these areas enrollments have grown by 13 to 35 percent and as high as 83 percent. Many districts on the eastern plains, in contrast, are faced with declining enrollments. In Denver, the state's largest urban district, enrollment growth continues but at a slower rate than in many suburban districts.

Jefferson County School District in Golden was among the top 25 suburban districts in the nation in terms of growth over the decade ending in 1995, as enrollments increased from 75,000 to 85,000 students, an increase of 13 percent. Since 1990, Jefferson County has built 13 new schools, supported by a bond issue passed in 1992 for $400 million. A $300 million bond issue passed in 1997 will fund construction of an additional four schools and 25 school expansions needed for the continued growth that is expected over the next five years. Some 500 relocatable classrooms are currently in use and that number will expand through the construction and renovation period. Officials also estimate that it will cost $25 million to hire the additional teachers needed to reduce elementary class size to 20 students and secondary class size to 25 students.

Between 1985 and 1995, Douglas County School District in Castle Rock grew by 83 percent, from an enrollment of 12,000 to 22,000 students. This increase of 10,000 places this district among the larger suburban growth districts in the nation. Continued growth brings the fall 1998 enrollments to almost 30,000 students, an increase of 150 percent over 1985. Bond issues have supported the construction of 22 new schools since 1990, with an additional 12 schools scheduled for construction in the near future. The district currently uses 40 portable buildings.

Other suburban growth districts in Colorado are managing their enrollment increases in a variety of ways. Cherry Creek School District in Englewood for years has managed its growth by instituting a year-round calendar in several elementary schools and an extended day in the high schools. Just north of Denver the suburban communities of Northglenn and Thornton, which have not built a new school since 1990, face the daunting task of suddenly building 16 new schools as old neighborhoods are rejuvenated by the heavy influx of young families.

Boulder Valley RE2 School District is faced with $60 million worth of critical repairs, including $7.2 million in repairs for Boulder High School alone. Because of Boulder's growth restrictions, the district expects to be "built out" by 2002. Nearby small communities, however, are growing rapidly, according to Planning Director Don Orr, who says that Erie, "which was recently no more than a wide spot in the road, will soon exceed a population of 50,000." In Colorado Springs, the Academy 20 School District has built eight schools since 1980 and is planning to build eight more schools in the near future.


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Last Updated -- September 7, 1998, (pjk)