School Capacity and Boundary Analysis

School Boundary Capacity Analysis Survey

Communities within the Douglas County School District (DCSD) continue to grow, with some areas developing faster than others. With this in mind, DCSD endeavors to ensure that each of our school buildings are utilized to their optimum capacity and that overcrowding, whether it is ongoing or anticipated to happen, is minimized to the extent possible.

In 2019, DCSD initiated the School Boundary and Capacity Analysis (SCBA) effort in order to systematically analyze school facility capacity throughout the district and recommend potential school boundary adjustments. Since 2019, the district has successfully implemented various boundary adjustments in order to address overcrowding and to plan for future growth. These boundary adjustments ensure that each of our nearly 62,000 students has access to comfortable and effective learning environments while DCSD continues to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.

More information about this survey and the School Boundary and Capacity Analysis can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions below and within the survey results. If you have a question that is not addressed on this webpage, please contact the DCSD Planning Department .

Please see the 2019 survey results.

Boundary Changes under consideration for the 2026-27 School Year

Canyons South (Macanta) areas currently assigned to Legacy Point Elementary School, Sagewood Middle School, and Ponderosa High School to be reassigned to Sage Canyon Elementary School, Mesa Middle School, and Douglas County High School.

The district is evaluating the potential reassignment of portions of the Canyons South planned development from its current assignment to schools located in the south/southeast Parker region to schools located in the north/northeast Castle Rock region. Specifically, the district is evaluating reassignment of the area indicated in the below map from Legacy Point Elementary School, Sagewood Middle School, and Ponderosa High School to Sage Canyon Elementary School, Mesa Middle School, and Douglas County High School.

This change is being evaluated for a variety of reasons, including but not limited to the below.

The current and projected total enrollment at Legacy Point Elementary School exceeds the facility’s ideal program capacity. The Legacy Point Elementary School building is currently at 121% of its ideal program capacity and it is forecasted that without intervention, Legacy Point Elementary will be at 137% of its ideal program capacity by the 2029-30 school year.
The current and projected total enrollment at Sage Canyon Elementary School does not exceed the facility’s ideal program capacity. The SGCE facility is currently at 83% of its ideal program capacity and it is forecasted that SGCE will be at 87% of its ideal program capacity by the 2029-30 school year.
The proposed reassignment offers a more convenient, accessible location for our student bus riders. The typical DCSD bus ride time for a student residing within the project area and commuting to Legacy Point Elementary is approximately one hour. The typical ride time from a household in the project area to Sage Creek Elementary is about 30 minutes. Similarly, ride times for middle and high school students commuting from Macanta to Castle Rock area schools (Mesa Middle and Douglas County High) are, on average, about 15-20 minutes shorter than ride times of those commuting to Parker region secondary schools (Sagewood Middle and Ponderosa High).
The proposed reassignment would result in increased transportation efficiency for the district. DCSD currently operates four routes that transport students to and from the project area and currently assigned neighborhood schools (LPE,SGMS,PHS). Due to the relatively far distance between the Canyons South development and Legacy Point Elementary School, DCSD Transportation is unable to “tier”, or in other words, consolidate routes as they otherwise would. The proposed reassignment would allow DCSD Transportation to effectively tier routes to and from Legacy Point Elementary with other elementary and secondary level school routes resulting in a net gain of 4 bus routes that could be re-allocated throughout the district.
DCSD parents residing in the project area have expressed interest in determining if and how reassignment to Castle Rock area schools may be achieved.

The boundary change and school reassignment as proposed would be effective for the 2026-27 school year. Below are additional proposed implementation details on the reassignment currently under consideration (should it be adopted by the DCSD Board of Education).

Reassignment at all levels is being proposed by the district. This means that reassignment of the elementary school, as well as the middle and high school for households within the project area is being considered.
Students residing within the project area that currently attend Legacy Point Elementary School, Sagewood Middle School, or Ponderosa High School and wish to continue on at these schools would be granted "legacy enrollment status" which guarantees continual enrollment through all grade levels served at the three schools without needing to open enroll. Those DCSD households choosing legacy enrollment status must confirm this in the year which the boundary change is made and must waive all rights to DCSD transportation services to these schools. This legacy enrollment status would not apply to any siblings which may have not entered school yet.
Those students residing within the project area that wish to attend Sage Canyon Elementary, Mesa Middle School, or Douglas County High School for the 2025-26 school year will receive priority open enrollment to these schools as per DCSD Superintendent Policy JCA/JFB-R.

Share your thoughts on the proposed boundary change by filling out our survey below.
Canyons South (Macanta) Boundary Change Survey

Attend a public meeting

Canyons South (Macanta) School Boundary Change Meeting
April 30th, 2025
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

DCSD Board of Education Room
620 Wilcox Street
Castle Rock, CO 80104

Canyons South (Macanta) School Boundary Change Virtual Meeting
May 6th, 2025
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm

If you have any additional questions about this proposed boundary adjustment please send your request to macantaschools@dcsdk12.org

Frequently Asked Questions

What questions/scenarios were included in the survey?

Survey respondents were asked to rate each of the following scenarios ranging from “Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree, Strongly Agree, or No Opinion or Not Enough Information.”

The Douglas County School District should manage growth in student enrollment by constructing new buildings and/or adding portable classrooms in growing areas.
The Douglas County School District should modify neighborhood boundaries to manage enrollment where underutilized schools are nearby overutilized schools and in areas to manage future growth.
The Douglas County School District should move sixth-grade out of crowded elementary schools and into middle schools where practical.
The Douglas County School District should expand the number of schools that offer kindergarten through eighth grade (K-8) in one building for those elementary buildings that have room for additional students.
The Douglas County School District should use Open Enrollment policies as a strategy to manage the overutilization and underutilization of school buildings and the use of portable classrooms.

What has DCSD done in the past to accommodate growth?

How much does it cost to construct new school facilities?

DCSD plans and documents costs for future needs on a yearly basis in its Master Capital Plan. In general, school construction cost estimates are as follows:

School Type	Approx. # of Students	Approx. Cost to Build
Elementary School	500	$38 million
Middle School	1,200	$70 million
High School	2,100	$132 million

Does DCSD have funds to construct new schools?

How much does it cost to relocate a portable classroom?

Why does it cost so much to move a portable classroom?

There are a number of factors that go into the move of portable classrooms. These include but are not limited to:

Timing, i.e. moving can only occur in the summer when school is not in session.
A limited number of service providers perform this kind of work. DCSD often competes with other school districts for these services.
Condition and availability of infrastructure on the site where the portable classroom is either being removed or placed is a factor. Some of the infrastructure issues can be, but not limited to, location and capacity of electricity, topography, etc..
Break-down, relocation and reconstruction of a portable classroom is needed in order to move it. These structures also need to be inspected and anchored per life safety and building codes.

I heard that DCSD’s student enrollment remains flat. Why should new schools be constructed?

When was the last time the DCSD changed its boundaries?

How would new attendance boundaries be implemented?

If it is determined that changes to school attendance boundaries are needed, several steps would need to take place prior to implementation, i.e. approval by the DCSD Board of Education, communication with affected families, etc. Generally speaking, best practice is to implement boundary changes gradually over time (usually over the course of 18-24 months). Best practices also allow exceptions for families with students in certain grade levels to remain in their school as well as exceptions for families with siblings. Another item for gradual implementation is to allow for concurrent busing to be available during the transition in order to reduce impacts on students and families. These are examples, however, the final criteria for implementation would be determined at a later time.

What are DCSD’s current school attendance boundaries?

Why is DCSD updating its school program capacities?

How were the new program capacities evaluated?

DCSD hired Western Demographics, Inc. to perform an analysis and update of school program capacities for its 89 schools (neighborhood, magnet and charter). The analysis involved a thorough walk through and review of floor plans for each school with school leaders to document how rooms are currently being used.

Capacity measures were developed with standardized formulas that were applied to each school. The new measures were then reviewed by principals. In cases where principals did not agree with the measure, a new review of the floor-plans was conducted with the principal to address concerns and reconcile discrepancies.

What has changed in programming that would change the previous capacity numbers?

Ideal class sizes and the utilization of school rooms/spaces have changed over time, thus reducing program capacity. Specialized, state, and federally-mandated programs, as well as the need for additional instructional support space have increased. In the last 20 years, support staff required at the elementary school level has increased from 2-5 to many buildings having 18-20, with an average of 40% supporting grade level teachers.

Examples include the transition from half-day to full-day kindergarten requiring additional classrooms, the addition of preschool classrooms, and the transition away from a four-track calendar.

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