Rightsizing FAQs

We want to provide the best experience for our students and families and become a “destination district” for the region. However, our enrollment and school-aged population continues to decline, leading to many critically under-utilized buildings which are costly to maintain and staff. With a limited amount of funding, our priority must be providing an excellent and equitable educational experience for all of our students and families, across the board.

Rightsizing is an option that makes sense for everyone

Design capacity is the number of students at 100% utilization of classrooms at a school. Functional capacity is approximately 75% of design capacity and is considered the optimal utilization of a school facility. The other 25% of capacity allows for flexibility to assign rooms for other purposes, such as for parent resources and pull-out programs.  

For those schools at or a bit above capacity, it is important to note that these buildings may not have flexible spaces for other purposes. Some buildings may show low utilization because a school may have opened in recent years, are still adding grades, and is expected to accommodate future growth for new grades.

We understand that school closures may have an initial negative impact. But if that option is taken by the board of education, it should be seen as an opportunity to take the District to the next level by maximizing resources, both financial and human.

The District pledges to work to minimize any negative impact by transparently engaging with the community and sharing the potential positive outcomes that will result from the decisions made.

We will honor the history and traditions of school communities, and we will engage the community in how to repurpose any closed schools for the benefit of the community.

At this time, there is no impact. Any decision by the board of education would not be implemented until the start of the 2026-27 school year. We do not believe it prudent to look at any potential scenarios until the board acts on the recommendations presented to it.

D60’s percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch (an accepted measure of students living in poverty):

83.7%

By comparison, in Colorado’s public schools overall, this is the percentage:

45.9%