Local school enrollment rises slightly

Most elementary schools are a little fuller this fall than they were last year in Flathead County, while most high school enrollments are down from a year ago.

Those are the results from the annual fall head count taken last week in Montana schools. The numbers will be reported to the state Office of Public Instruction this month.

Overall public school enrollment is up this year. There are 13,352 students enrolled in a Flathead County public school, compared to 13,281 during fall 2009.

It’s a change from the last two years, when enrollment numbers fell.

Total elementary enrollment is up slightly from fall 2009. This year’s 9,169 students enrolled in kindergarten through eighth grade mark a 1.4 percent increase from a year ago.

Elementary enrollment has grown 2.9 percent from 2000 and 3.1 percent from 1991, the earliest year for which the Inter Lake has data. That year, 8,896 children were enrolled in a public elementary or middle school.

Eleven of Flathead County’s 19 elementary districts reported increased enrollments this fall. Most increases were small — one additional student at Helena Flats and West Glacier, three at Columbia Falls and Creston, five at Marion and Smith Valley — but at smaller schools, even slight increases can make a big difference.

That’s because state funding for schools is based largely on how many students attend. Head counts taken in October and February are factored into a formula used to dole out state dollars. More students means more money for schools.

But enrollment increases can create challenges. Kalispell’s elementary district has 2,890 students this year, 160 more than last year. Enrollment at the elementary level has grown by 13.6 percent since 1991 in Kalispell schools.

Classrooms are a little more crowded, perhaps most noticeably at the kindergarten level.

According to the state, there should be no more than 20 kindergarten students in a classroom with a single teacher, but without additional classroom space or money for more teacher aides, Kalispell had no choice but to fail to meet accreditation standards this year, Superintendent Darlene Schottle told the Inter Lake last month.

“We are going to be out of compliance in every one of our kindergarten classrooms,” she said.

West Valley also is tight. With 24 more students than last year — a 5.5 percent increase — the school has had to scramble to accommodate all its 460 students. A computer lab was converted into a classroom days before school started.

But other districts are losing students. Bigfork’s elementary enrollment is 465, down 21 from last year. It’s the lowest enrollment Bigfork Elementary and Middle School has had in at least two decades.

Deer Park is in a similar situation. Although it has only seven fewer students than last year, the school has seen a dramatic decline in enrollment over the last decade. It has 57 students this fall, a 52.9 percent decrease since fall 2000.

In terms of sheer numbers, Evergreen’s enrollment dropped off the most; its 716 students are 34 fewer than last year. Still, enrollment is close to where it was 10 years ago in the district.

Kila has 20 fewer students than last year, with 140 enrolled this fall. But that is still a 6.1 percent increase from 2000 and a 22.8 percent from the school’s enrollment in 1991.

With 556 students enrolled at its two schools, Somers-Lakeside’s enrollment decreased 4.6 percent this year. But the numbers are higher than they were a decade ago, when 535 students attended school in the district. And district enrollment is 55.3 percent higher than it was in 1991.

Among high school districts, only Kalispell has experienced growth. With 1,440 students at Flathead High School and 1,265 enrolled at Glacier High, there are 50 more students in the district than there were last year.

Kalispell’s high school district has grown steadily since 1991. Over that time, high school enrollment has increased 36.3 percent.

Columbia Falls High School is down 57 students, or 7.3 percent, from last year with its current enrollment of 725 students. Bigfork and Whitefish high schools posted their lowest enrollments since 1991, with 259 students in Bigfork and 494 in Whitefish.

Over the last 10 years, Bigfork’s enrollment has decreased 29.4 percent. Whitefish High’s numbers have dropped 4.3 percent in the last decade.

Overall, Flathead County’s high school enrollment numbers are down slightly, 1.3 percent, from last year — but there are 643 more students enrolled in a Flathead County public high school this year than there were in 1991.

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