Area schools helping out kids in need

Hard times are a common theme among Flathead families — but if school officials are correct, homelessness is not.

While some school administrators acknowledged seeing an occasional homeless student over the last year or so, most said there were no homeless students in their districts this fall.

This is in contrast with Kalispell Public Schools, which is reporting at least 74 homeless students this year.

Part of the problem could be administrators’ definitions of “homeless.”

Kalispell uses the federal government’s definition, in which homeless students are those who “lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence.”

That definition includes families who have moved in with relatives or friends — a phenomenon school officials say is becoming more common, even if they don’t consider children in those situations “homeless.”

Whitefish has “zero homeless children,” Superintendent Jerry House said. Food services director Jay Stagg agreed.

“We do not have any homeless students at the moment — or what we actually consider homeless. We do have some families camping at the KOA,” he said.

Staying at a campground counts as homeless according to the federal definition.

Moreover, counselor Barb Mansfield said there are homeless teenagers at the high school.

“We do have kids that are homeless by choice or homeless not by choice,” Mansfield said.

“We do have some teenagers who have decided to leave their home to do the couch surfing thing from friend to friend. ... And we do have families who are homeless not by choice. It’s the economy.”

As a counselor, Mansfield hears about many students who no longer live at home, but she knows there are more the schools don’t know about.

“Very seldom do we have a family come right forward and say, ‘We’ve lost everything and have no place to live,’” she said. “We know they’re out there, but we don’t always see them.”

When the district does identify homeless students, there are programs in place to help them, House said. Each child is assessed individually, and the district will work with agencies in the community to find homeless children a home, he said.

Homelessness hasn’t been a big issue in the Columbia Falls School District, school officials reported. No school in the elementary district reported any homeless children; the high school did not respond to requests for information.

“It really doesn’t happen that often,” said Nicolette Bales, co-head teacher at Canyon Elementary. “You really don’t get much more affordable housing than up here.”

There are many families in Columbia Falls who live with relatives. But while the federal government might consider those families homeless, teachers say for many, living with relatives is simply a lifestyle choice.

“It’s kind of more the way it is. It’s been that way for a long time,” Bales said.

A similar situation exists in Bigfork, middle school counselor Mary Ahnert said.

“Generally what happens in Bigfork when something happens like that where a student can’t live at home any more for one reason or another, usually they stay with an extended family member or stay with a friend,” she said.

Occasionally, a child might stay with a staff member, she added, recalling one instance where a single parent had to move away for a job. The children wanted to finish the school year in Bigfork, so Ahnert sent an e-mail to staff members for help.

By the end of the day, someone had offered to take the children in for the rest of the year, she said.

“We’re fortunate to have really good staff support and community support,” she said.

Tough times aren’t the sole burden of the Flathead’s larger districts; rural schools are struggling with issues as well.

“Nobody has come in as homeless status,” said Tonnie Decker, clerk at Helena Flats School. “We have families that have been ... not necessarily displaced, but they have lost their home. Some are living at a campground, not in a tent, but they rent there or have a trailer.”

And while Decker noted that campground living is a regular way of life for some families, others are there because they lost their homes.

Their stories vary. Some had a pile of medical bills. Others lost jobs. Holding on to their houses proved too much.

“These are things that we haven’t had in our community for a while,” Decker said.

To help their peers, Helena Flats’ student council concocted a fundraiser just in time for Thanksgiving. Students challenged staff members to bring in money and promised to match what the teachers raised. The money bought $25 gift cards to Super 1 to help families with their holiday meals, Principal Ann Minckler said.

Other schools have similarly creative ways to help students and families in need.

At Somers Middle School, trustees eliminated extracurricular participation fees in 2009.

“It gets too hard on the families,” district clerk Diane Fetterhoff said. “We’re trying to shoulder that ourselves in the budget, cover those costs that were normally covered before, like referees.”

It hasn’t been easy on an already tight budget, she said. In 2009-10, the district had some pay-to-play money left in its account to help with the costs. This year, the district is shouldering the entire burden.

West Valley takes a slightly different approach. Pay-to-play fees might be waived, but the school asks students to give something in return.

“They maybe help me out sweeping floors before games, or pick up after school,” Principal Dan Anderson said. “We’ve just always kind of done that. We figure if you get something, it’s nice to give back in one way or the other.”

Glacier Gateway Elementary in Columbia Falls keeps lockers full of snow pants, hats, gloves and other cold-weather gear for students who need them, Principal Dot Wood said. The clothing comes from a local secondhand store, donations and unclaimed lost-and-found items.

“We end up with all this stuff in lost and found. We try to give it back,” she said. But when even calling parents to pick up lost items doesn’t work, the school ends up washing the clothes and keeping them.

“Some of the people who aren’t as worried about where all the coats have gone are probably subsidizing the people who need them,” Wood said.

The school has a washer and dryer on campus to help keep the loaner items clean. But Wood said families who don’t have access to laundry facilities may use the appliances.

“That’s not something that’s a program or that we really advertise,” she said. “But we really do try, if children or families seem like they’re struggling, we do what we can in that particular case.”

Most schools around the valley have extra clothing or supplies for kids who need them. Many of those items are donated by community members; most schools praised their communities for their generosity.

“Even though it’s been a hard economy on everybody, it almost seems like people are more willing to share right now,” Ahnert said. “Even if they don’t have much to give, they’re just more willing to give. There’s a very giving spirit.”

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.