Douglas schools identify up to $547 million in unfunded capital needs

The Douglas County School District estimates that $421 million to $547 million in capital needs lack identified funding, after accounting for projects expected to receive 2024 bond money and a $20 million emergency-capital reserve. The range is part of a broader five-year plan with $773 million to $969 million in projects, the district’s 2025–26 Master Capital Plan estimates.

The largest remaining category is reinvestment in neighborhood, magnet and alternative schools and district support facilities, estimated at $185 million to $264 million. The work includes deferred maintenance, replacement of aging systems, repairs and upgrades. The plan also lists $61 million to $71 million for safety and security work and $53 million to $76 million for charter-school facility needs, such as modifications, equipment and building additions or expansions identified by charter leaders.

A proposed bus terminal serving the Parker region is listed as a need for the next one to five years, at an estimated $43 million: about $8.7 million for land and $34.3 million for the terminal. The plan identifies it as a need, not an approved or funded project.

The estimates are planning ranges, not final bids or spending authorizations. They include estimated project-management costs and inflation; actual costs will be established through project bidding and budgeting, the plan says.

The district expects the 2024 bond to pay for $150 million in new construction: two elementary schools and an addition at Sierra Middle School. The elementary schools, planned for RidgeGate and Sterling Ranch, are scheduled to open in August 2027, a schedule the district’s 2026 annual report also confirms. The district says the schools are intended to address crowding in the Chatfield Urban Area and the northeast I-25 corridor.

The plan reports that the district’s funded pupil count fell by 113, to 61,851, in 2024–25. Neighborhood-school enrollment declined while charter enrollment grew, and the plan anticipates growth in some areas. Districtwide enrollment changes alone do not determine where facilities are needed.

The district’s Long Range Planning Committee presents the five-year plan and related findings to the Board of Education, as part of the district’s capital-planning process. The plan says remaining projects may be considered when funding becomes available, but does not identify a funding source or timetable for deciding which projects to fund.