‘No one ever likes their kid’s school closing:’ Harrison School D2 plans to merge several schools due to low enrollment

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Ongoing low enrollment at several schools in Harrison School District 2 (D2) has led the district planning to merge several schools into a K-8 school.

D2 says Turman Elementary School will be closing, and students will move into two nearby schools. Students will move to either Giberson Elementary School and Soaring Eagles Community School based on a new boundary plan.

It also says Oak Creek Elementary and Fox Meadow Middle School will become a K-8 campus at Fox Meadow. Bricker Elementary and Panorama Middle School will also become a K-8 campus at Panorama.

Equipment like playgrounds will move over to the new school campuses.

The decline in enrollment over the years has come from the cost of living and less people living in the area with children, D2 says. It also says there was a miscalculation how many kids were going to be born in the area.

"We were forecast to stay stable and increased enrollment but we are declining to about one hundred students a year. At that point we got to the threshold of about 300 where it is not financially solvent to be able to wrap around supports," Superintendent Wendy Birhanzel said.

The teachers at closing schools will have priority as well an earlier window to apply to the new ones, but none have a guarantee to those jobs, the district says.

D2 says it has other K-8 schools that parents of the merging schools can visit to have an idea of what their children will be going into.

"Thats what I was appreciative of really with our families, is they don't like the decision," Birhanzel said. "No one ever likes their kid's school closing. Superintendent doesn't like to close schools. But it's the reality. So now how do we work together to make it best for student staff and family"

The new plan will start in the fall of 2027. It says it is still working on some things, but will allow families to qualify for free transportation if they live more than a mile from school.

D2 says a question-and-answer page is available on their website.

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