Widefield School District 3 is an “urban/suburban” district, according to the Colorado Department of Education.

Tell that to the pronghorn that graze in open fields on eastern portions of the district.

But it’s a definition that will become more accurate as construction causes the number of homes in the district to potentially triple in 20 years.

The district wants to keep its small-town feel even as more people move in, and officials are working with developers to figure out just when new residents will arrive and where they will be.  

Cooperating with developers is crucial, said Superintendent Mark Hatchell. Many school sites have already been identified and agreed upon by developers and school officials.

“We want the same things,” Hatchell said. “We want good neighborhoods. They want good neighborhoods. We want great schools. They want great schools.”

Meeting with developers as subdivisions are being planned means board members can make good decisions about when to hold a bond election, and how many schools will be needed and where, Hatchell said.

As families move in to new houses, the challenge for the district becomes keeping a small-town, community-oriented feel.

The sense of community might be best understood by listening to Board President Martin Kuhn describe what happens when the district’s two high schools play each other in football. There are a parade and a cookout, and about 5,000 people watch the Widefield-Mesa Ridge game, Kuhn said.

The stands at basketball and football games are full of people whose kids “are long gone,” district spokesman James Drew said.

The goal, Hatchell said, is to ensure the district remains one community as it gets “much, much larger.”

By the end of the 2006-’07 school year, 1,500 more homes are expected in the district, Drew said.

Using an estimate of .6 to .8 students per home, 900 to 1,200 students could be added to the 8,556-student district. The low estimate would be a 10.5 percent increase in students between this school year and the end of the next.

In the ’07-’08 school year, at least 1,500 homes are expected, Drew said. That’s 900 to 1,200 more students. And that’s when the increase in students will really begin impacting the district’s budget.

Big developments, such as the 6,500-home Rolling Hills Ranch near Drennan and Meridian roads, might take 10 to 20 years to be completed. Smaller developments could be finished in two to five years.

The estimated growth percentages are close to what Falcon School District 49 has experienced in the past five years. Falcon brought in dozens of portable classrooms and scrambled to pass a ballot measure allowing it to build more schools.

While some school sites in new developments might be agreed upon, the district will most likely have to ask voters for a bond measure within a few years to build schools on those sites.

Hatchell figures a bond election is still two to four years away. But that depends on how fast homes are built and what the school board decides to do.

Communication is key, Drew said, to make sure people know about the growth and its effects on the district.

The district already communicates with residents through a column by the superintendent in the local weekly newspaper and through a quarterly mailer. An improved Web site is on its way, Drew said.

Hatchell talks to local service groups, and people come up to him at sporting events, the grocery store, church and other community locales, he said, to ask questions or share comments about the district.

“People know he’s approachable,” Drew said.

Newcomers on the east side of the district need to feel they’re a part of the community too, Drew said. Most of the houses sit on the west side of the district now.

“I want the people here to care about the people there. I want the people coming to care about the traditions” of the district, Drew said.

Widefield Elementary School celebrates its 100th birthday this year. Hatchell graduated from the district before coming back to be an assistant principal, principal and superintendent.

“People have grown up there,” Kuhn said. “It’s home to me.”

But change should also be embraced, Hatchell said, and the coming growth should result in opportunities to expand programs.

The district should not only be bigger, he said, but better.

“We do see some real potential in the growth,” Hatchell said. “It’s exciting for us. We’re confident we can meet the challenges that are coming.

By SHARI CHANEY GRIFFIN - THE GAZETTE