Fire Restrictions Are Off, a Sterling Ranch Charter Cut Three Teachers on Day 14, and the Health Director Is Leaving: The Week in Douglas County

Four things happened in Douglas County this week that did not involve a ballot. (The thing that did is over here.)

Stage 1 is over

Sheriff Darren Weekly lifted Stage 1 fire restrictions on Thursday, September 17, effective immediately, after what the county describes as a review of fire and fuel conditions, current weather and the forecast. The order covers all of unincorporated Douglas County plus the City of Castle Pines and the Town of Larkspur, which ride on the sheriff's order. Restrictions had been in place since August 20.

Everything Stage 1 took away is back: the outdoor fire activities that were restricted are permitted again. The Sheriff's Office attached the obvious caveat, that "fire safety is a year-round responsibility," and asked people to keep using caution with "outdoor fires, campfires, outdoor equipment, and disposal of smoking materials."

Two notes. The Town of Castle Rock sets its own restrictions and has posted its own notice, headlined "Fire restrictions lifted as conditions improve in Castle Rock." And the county's order does not reach federal land: if your fall-color drive ends in Pike National Forest, check the Forest Service's current order before you pack a camp stove. We have corrected the fire-status lines in our fall colors guide and fall festivals guide to match.

John Adams Academy laid off three teachers on the 14th day of school

John Adams Academy, the classical charter school in Sterling Ranch, laid off three middle school teachers on September 11, which Colorado Community Media's Haley Lena reports was the 14th day of instruction.

The school's explanation is about scheduling, not performance. Headmaster Sarah Kiesewetter told the paper the "staffing adjustments involved full-time salaried positions that were supporting part-time teaching loads," that the middle school is "still growing," and that "continuing to fund full-time positions when the teaching load did not require full-time staffing would not have been fiscally responsible." The school says it opened with roughly 90 percent of its budgeted enrollment.

The teachers tell it differently. They told the paper they taught three to four classes in a six-period day and ran a homeroom, which is not most people's definition of part-time. One of them, Emily Sharp, said, "To my knowledge, families were given no notice."

Our read: a school that opens 10 percent under its enrollment budget has a real money problem, and the honest version of this story is probably that one. But a staffing plan that needs correcting on day 14 was a staffing plan built on the hopeful number, and the people who paid for that optimism were three teachers looking for work in mid-September, after every other school has finished hiring, and the students who just lost them. Families at any new charter should ask one question before October count day: what was the budgeted enrollment, and what is the actual?

The man who built the Health Department is retiring

Mike Hill, executive director of the Douglas County Health Department, will retire in November. He announced the decision Thursday, September 10, and the county posted its release September 11. Hill joined in 2022, when the department was mostly an idea: Douglas County voted in 2021 to leave the Tri-County Health Department after a fight over pandemic mask orders, and it had to stand up its own agency. "Building a high-functioning health department from scratch seemed like a daunting task when we began this journey, but together, we were successful," Hill said in the county's release.

The county credits his tenure with expanded maternal and child health services and vaccination access, a Healthy Families Partnership with 13 community partners, 1,112 environmental health inspections in 2024, and the 2025 to 2028 Public Health Improvement Plan. Commissioner George Teal said Hill "accepted an extraordinary assignment: build a high-functioning Health Department from the ground up while continuing to provide essential services."

The Board of Health will run a nationwide search. That hire matters more than it sounds. The department was born out of a political argument about what public health is for, and the second director, not the first, is the one who shows whether it has settled into being a normal health agency.

September 30: a town hall on youth mental health

The county's next Live Town Hall, "Courageous Conversations: Well-being of Our Youth," runs Wednesday, September 30, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. You can attend in person at the Philip S. Miller Building, 100 Third Street in Castle Rock, watch on the county's Live Town Hall page, or call 1-833-380-0668. A local panel will cover cyberbullying, social media pressure, academic stress and isolation, along with how to spot warning signs and build a family crisis plan.

The news inside the announcement: the county says the event will introduce new youth crisis stabilization services launching at Children's Hospital Colorado's South Campus in Highlands Ranch, offering 48 to 72 hours of short-term support. That is a real gap in the south metro being filled, and we will report the details once they are public. If you or a kid you know needs help now, call or text 988.

On the calendar

Castle Rock is holding council-district open houses, both at 4 p.m.: District 6 on Tuesday, September 22, at The Oaks, 321 Players Club Drive, and District 2 on Tuesday, September 29, at 3833 Crowfoot Valley Road. Neither district is on the November ballot (that is the mayor plus Districts 3 and 5), which makes these the rare council events where nobody is campaigning at you.