Harrison School District 2 is preparing for major school changes next fall, including the closure of Turman Elementary and the transition of Bricker and Oak Creek elementary students to K8 campuses.

Superintendent Dr. Wendy Birhanzel said the district spent years monitoring enrollment trends and initially expected student numbers to increase. However, those projections did not match what the district experienced.

It was the state demographer, it was the demographer from the Department of Education, it was the national demographer who all projected that we would increase in enrollment, Birhanzel said.

Instead, the district experienced a steady decline in student enrollment. District figures show enrollment fell from 12,410 students in 2025 to 11,444 in 2026.

Birhanzel said the district had been losing about 100 students annually, creating difficult financial decisions as it works to align resources with the number of students it serves.

Turman Elementary to Close as Enrollment Declines

Turman Elementary will close, with students split between Giberson Elementary and Soaring Eagles Elementary.

Birhanzel said Turman currently serves fewer than 150 students, making it difficult to provide the range of educational opportunities the district wants to offer.

Turman Elementary is under 150 students. That is not a smart move to keep a school open because you can't offer a full-time art teacher, Birhanzel said.

She also pointed to broader demographic changes, including rising living costs and declining birth rates, as factors contributing to lower enrollment.

The district estimates the changes could save $4 million to $5 million each year. Birhanzel said those savings could help prevent cuts to other district offerings, including athletics, transportation and Advanced Placement classes.

For families hoping the district would reconsider closing Turman, Birhanzel said the decision is final.

Right now there is not a reconsideration option. This is a final, she said.

Bricker and Oak Creek Students to Transition to K8 Campuses

Students from Bricker Elementary and Panorama Middle School will come together as a K-8 campus at Panorama.

Oak Creek Elementary and Fox Meadow Middle School will come together as a K-8 campus at Fox Meadow beginning next fall.

District leaders say the transition is intended to help match school resources to enrollment while maintaining educational opportunities for students.

Birhanzel said Harrison School District 2 already operates four K8 campuses.

We have four K8s right now, and so we want to offer our families tours of both what we have now and what it will look [like], she said.

The district is also finalizing transportation routes for affected students.

Students who receive special education services or support as multilingual learners will continue receiving those services at their new schools, according to Birhanzel.

The superintendent also said the district's goal is to retain employees who want to continue working for the district.

The goal is to not lay anyone off. The goal is to keep everyone a job if they wanna work here, Birhanzel said.

What Will Happen to the School Buildings?

The buildings will remain closed for a year while the district explores potential future uses.

Birhanzel said the district hopes to find options that benefit the surrounding community and bring additional resources to the southeast side of Colorado Springs.

Something that will uplift our community and add a resource back into our community that sometimes the Southeast might not have, she said.

Changes Planned for Next Fall

The school changes are scheduled to take effect next fall. District leaders say they do not currently plan to close any additional schools, but they will continue monitoring enrollment and state funding.

For families affected by the changes, the district says it plans to provide information and support as students prepare to transition to their new campuses.

Parents at Bricker, Oak Creek and Turman elementary schools were invited to meetings Wednesday evening to hear directly from Harrison School District 2 leaders about major changes planned for their schools.

At Turman Elementary, about 30 parents attended a meeting where district leaders announced plans to close the school beginning in the 2027-28 school year. Students would transition to either Giberson Elementary or Soaring Eagles Community School.

Staff members also learned about the planned closure shortly before the meeting.

The district is also proposing to combine Oak Creek Elementary with Fox Meadow Middle School and Bricker Elementary with Panorama Middle School. Both campuses would become K-8 schools.

For families at Turman, the announcement came as a shock.

Yeah, it is shocking, said Ruben Bet, a Turman Elementary parent.

A little bit scary because we moved to this community because we wanted to go to Turman, Said Israel Riva, another parent at Turman.

Superintendent Dr. Wendy Birhanzel, School Board President Michelle Wills-Hill and Turman Elementary Principal Mickee Witt attended the meeting to explain the proposed changes and answer parents' questions.

During the meeting, district leaders pointed to declining enrollment as a key factor behind the planned changes. Turman currently has fewer than 150 students, according to the district.

Leaders also cited rising living costs and fewer children entering the community as contributing factors.

But parents said they still have questions about how the changes will affect students, teachers and families.

The big question is how will the district accommodate all these students in different schools and also the teachers, Bet said.

Parents also raised concerns about transportation, class sizes and whether schools receiving students will have enough teachers and counselors to support them.

For Riva, the announcement came with little time to process what it could mean for his family.

This is so new that it just hit us like out of nowhere, so, um, we would have to see, but I don't know, we really like the school, Riva said.

District leaders said employees will have an opportunity to apply and interview for positions at the receiving schools as the district works through staffing plans.

The district expects that process to begin January 11, when the interview pool opens.

Parents also asked what will happen to the Turman Elementary building after the school closes. Some said they do not want the property to sit vacant.

One idea raised during the meeting was converting the building into the Deerfield Hills Community Center. District leaders said community input will play a significant role in determining the building's future.

Still, some parents hope the school can be saved.

If there is any way to save the school or to make a petition to save that school because it's a great school and the teachers are great, the principal is a great principal, Riva said.

Harrison School District 2 said it plans to support students and families throughout the transition.

District leaders also reminded parents that the district operates under a school-choice model, meaning families can choose which school their children attend next year.

The proposed changes are planned to take effect in August 2027, at the start of the 2027-28 school year.

For now, questions remain about how students will transition, how staffing will be handled and what will ultimately happen to the Turman Elementary building.

News 5 received a tip that sources say Harrison School District 2 plans to make changes to several elementary schools like Turman, Bricker, and Oak Creek, potentially taking on new purposes next school year.

Weve been looking into the potential changes since receiving a tip. We called the district last week but did not get a response. After following up by email this week, the district confirmed it plans to announce changes to several schools Wednesday evening.

For parents like Carah Bacus, whose daughter just started second grade at Turman, the news could mean another adjustment for her family.

"I'm actually quite shocked because I didn't know about that." Bacus said.

Bacus said Turman's close location has made the transition to a new school easier for her family.

"What will happen to my kid, and options? When it's gonna start?" Bacus said.

The district will announce its proposed plans to parents and students Wednesday. I've requested an interview with Superintendent Dr. Wendy Birhanzel to get more answers about what the changes could mean for students and families.

Colorado voters will decide this November whether to add a new identification requirement for mail ballots.

Amendment 84 would require mail voters to write the last 4 digits of their Social Security number or driver's license number on the outside of their ballot envelope.

The measure would apply to federal and statewide elections and would keep the existing signature requirement. Amendment 84 needs 55 percent of the vote to pass. The measure does not change identification requirements for people voting in person.

Supporters say the change adds another layer of verification.

"Signatures used to be the gold standard, and now everything that you see that has security attached to it is a two-factor authentication and one of those factors is always going to be something that's subjective, said Suzanne Taheri one of the initiative's proponents.

She says signatures can change, particularly among younger and older voters.

For older people, it's because I think their writing styles sometimes change as they get older. For younger people you don't sign that many documents," Taheri said.

Some voters say they may be open to the idea.

"As long as it's private, you know, not the whole world to see it. Yes, I'm OK with it," Princella Carvin said.

But opponents say Colorado already has a system for checking those signatures.

"I've worked as an election judge, it's been proven to be a reliable way to make sure these are valid ballots, said Jessica Delos Reyes the executive director of Citizens Project. She says the added requirement could create another way for a legitimate ballot to be rejected.

The thing is if you don't provide that information, your vote will not be counted, this is just going to keep more people away from voting and stoke even more distrust in a system that's actually very secure," Delos Reyes said.

Other voters say they see value in having another way to verify who's casting a ballot.

"Having something to show 'OK this is who I am and this is how I'm voting I was here today' uh just makes sense to me," Meg Provencher said.

For some, the concern is whether voters need to provide more personal information.

"We have already got our Social Security in the system as far as they know who we are, I feel like how many ways do we need to have our identifying name address phone number all the other things that we have?" Heidi Marquess said.

A new aerospace manufacturing facility is coming to southeast Colorado Springs, bringing more than $68 million in investment, 123 new jobs and average annual wages of more than $90,000 according to Sam Arnold, the city economic development specialist.

Accu-Precision, a Littleton-based company, plans to build a roughly 110,000-square-foot facility near Aerospace Boulevard, Drennan Road and Marksheffel Road. Company representatives, local elected officials and members of the Colorado Springs Chamber and Economic Development Corporation gathered downtown Tuesday for the official announcement.

WATCH: New $68M aerospace manufacturing facility planned near southeast Colorado Springs, bringing over 100 jobs

New $68M aerospace manufacturing facility planned near southeast Colorado Springs, bringing over 100 jobs

"We want companies to know that El Paso County is a place where they can invest, grow, and build for the future," Senior Economic Development Analyst Sara Lobato said.

The company manufactures precision parts and assemblies for aerospace and industrial customers. Jobs will include manufacturing technicians, operators, engineers and supervisors.

"For us it means taking raw billets of steel and material and turning them into parts and assemblies that will be used for our customers," Michael McCue, president of Accu-Precision, said.

Company leaders said the location puts them close to the airport, Peterson Space Force Base and Fort Carson, which could help them recruit veterans and other workers.

"A lot of our positions need folks who are disciplined, will follow procedures, and will follow processes," McCue said.

For people who work and live nearby, it was the first time they had heard about the project.

"They're going to pay more and so we get better-paying jobs here. People can afford more housing. They can spend more money in the community and right, that's what it's all about," Sylvia Dorn said.

The state approved up to $1.7 million in performance-based tax credits, tied to the company meeting its job and salary commitments. Accu-Precision's expansion is also expected to qualify for El Paso County's 1.23% manufacturing sales and use tax exemption on capitalized manufacturing machinery.

Councilmember David Leinweber supports the project.

"As we bring more high paying jobs into our community, it's going to be distributed through our local economy through mom-and-pop retailers and other organizations," Leinweber said.

The company said it expects to begin hiring as early as next summer, with the facility expected to be operational in spring 2028.