School land compromise allows for middle and high, additional elementary school in Colorado's Sterling Ranch

Sterling Ranch, Douglas County, and the Douglas County School District have agreed on a plan for how school land will be dedicated going forward.

After Sterling Ranch proposed an amendment to meet the community's growing needs, many neighbors pushed back. But the amendment passed with concessions, and now the parties have come to an agreement.

This compromise will allocate 130 acres for schools in Sterling Ranch. That's enough for not only John Adams Academy Charter and the incoming Elementary School 51, but also a middle and high school campus and a second elementary school.

"I hope that it means that he gets to go to elementary school, middle and high school here in Sterling Ranch," Sterling Ranch mom Robyn Depan said.

Depan is cautiously optimistic that her 2-year-old son will attend the neighborhood schools their family was promised.

"We saw on the map where they had dedicated school sites, and we were so excited about the opportunity to live so close to neighborhood schools and have our children be able to walk to school," Depan said.

An amendment that initially sought to cap school land in Sterling Ranch at 110 acres, including charter schools, and allow the developer to provide cash instead of land if the school district could not show immediate funding, was opposed by at least 175 neighbors via email. Depan is counting.

"About 23 spoke for the amendment," Depan said. Looking at a meticulous spreadsheet she created, she said 27 spoke against it at a November meeting.

"I definitely did not like it. It put so much power into the developer's hands versus the school district, who- they're the professionals of school planning," Depan said. "It didn't allow for the school district to have time to get the funding that they needed. They needed to have money in hand right now to build a school, which- that's just not how school planning works for public schools."

Douglas County School District also opposed the amendment, saying it would prevent the district from securing and building the schools Sterling Ranch needs.

Those concerns led Sterling Ranch to offer concessions, including 15 additional acres.

Commissioners approved the amendment with concessions in November, and now the district and Sterling Ranch have agreed on a final plan. Sterling Ranch is pledging 130 total acres for schools, enough for an 80-acre public middle and high school and almost 12 acres for a second public elementary school.

When the time comes, DCSD will have five years to secure bond funding before the land is opened up to charter schools.

A Sterling Ranch representative said, "The School District will initiate a funding process when need for a new public school exists. If the district is unable to secure a vote of the electorate to build a new school within five years of the need existing, then the district will make the land available to a district-approved charter school," and that "The developer will not pay a fee in lieu to get out of any land dedication unless the district has failed to follow the process outlined above or 60% buildout of Sterling Ranch, meaning improved homesites, not built homes."

"Cash in lieu is no longer a convenient or easy option. It's the last resort, which I appreciate," Depan said.

It's a compromise that neighbors like Depan are happy with.

"The land is wonderful, but the changes of the funding and the sequencing were probably the biggest things that spoke out to me," Depan said.

But she won't stop watching or counting anytime soon.

"I don't think this would have happened without the residents and parents speaking up and showing up," Depan said. "As this community grows, trust needs to be built and repaired, and Sterling Ranch has some work to do, but I commend them for the concessions that they made in this amendment."

If the number of homes planned in Sterling Ranch increases in the future, DCSD may request additional school land from Sterling Ranch.

DCSD said in a statement, "The first DCSD elementary school in Sterling Ranch will open in fall 2027. We will continue to monitor student generation in Sterling Ranch over the next five to 10 years to determine when future schools are needed. Building additional new schools is dependent on the taxpayers passing a bond as they did in 2024 (and we are so thankful!)."