As enrollment surges, district begins planning for expansion

As the population continues to grow, so does enrollment in Kalispell Public Schools, with no signs of slowing down based on anticipated residential development over the next decade.

As of Oct. 12, the district has grown by 330 students compared to the 2020-21 school year, for a total enrollment of 6,162 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. This represents a 5.7% increase, according to the school district.

This is a considerable change from last year; however, when Covid-19 hit schools it transformed the way education was delivered. Although the school district gained an unprecedented 112 high school students, grades K-8 decreased by 193 students, representing about a 1.5% decrease overall. At the time, school officials attributed county-wide enrollment fluctuations to an influx of people moving to the area and families opting to home-school students.

“The percentage change from year-to-year — when you look at that over a four-year period, or a five-year period — it’s about a 1% growth, which is basically what we predict as an average,” Kalispell Public Schools Superintendent Micah Hill said during a presentation to the school board Tuesday.

Enrollment increases in the district’s six elementary schools remains a continued concern with limited space left to accommodate growth. Total enrollment in grades K-5 stands at 2,082.

IN PREVIOUS long-term facility planning discussions it was projected the six elementary schools might reach capacity by 2021 or 2027, depending if enrollment grew between 1 to 2% annually. That prediction ultimately prompted the district to purchase land north of town as the future site of a seventh elementary.

“What we see, especially between Edgerton and Rankin [elementary schools], is that north and south buildout of Kalispell proper, and so, we’re seeing enrollments in those schools being high, and nearing, or exceeding, capacity based on our current school enrollments,” Hill said.

The majority of elementary class sizes across the board are hovering right around state accreditation standards by a difference of one student, according to Kalispell Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Matt Jensen.

“We have seven of our total 90 classrooms that are above the state standard and we address that through additional paraprofessional support,” Jensen said.

State accreditation standards limit class sizes to 20 students in grades K-2, which has raised the most concern going back to 2012 when alleviating overcrowding was a priority.

“Our kindergarten classes are full,” Jensen said.

Class size tends to be less of an immediate concern in third and fourth grade, where state accreditation maintains that 28 students can be in a class. Jensen said there are five third-grade classes “maxed-out” with 28 students. By fifth grade, class sizes are capped at 30 students.

However, looking at the physical buildings, Edgerton, Rankin and Elrod are at 95% capacity; Russell is at 94% capacity; Hedges is at 88% and Russell is at 79% capacity. Hill said the two schools at the low end are likely due to redistricting when Rankin was built.

Jensen also pointed out the renovation work elementary schools underwent to add makerspaces and dedicated music classrooms as part of a 2016 bond issue, are being used as regular education classrooms.

“So, when you look at that in total from a summary perspective, what that would represent is we have about 86 seats left in our elementary buildings just based on teacher FTE (full-time equivalent), not facility capacity, so we have a little bit of room to grow,” Hill said.

IN ADDITION to Kalispell, the district is keeping tabs on projected residential development in surrounding partner K-8 school districts whose students typically go on to attend Flathead and Glacier high schools.

At the high school level, physical space is more of a commodity with more specialized spaces such as science labs and shops, for example.

West Valley School District, in particular, has experienced surges in enrollment and like Kalispell Public Schools, expanded its facility footprint, most recently over the summer when staff built two classrooms. Enrollment growth in the West Valley means possible growth for Glacier.

Current enrollment at Glacier stands at 1,359 students. Kalispell Public Schools Assistant Superintendent Callie Langohr said Glacier has a capacity of 1,500 students and was built taking into account future expansion. Langohr outlined a building addition that could raise the capacity to 1,900 students.

The district also noted that Kalispell Middle School is filling up and district-owned property is available to build another middle school at the site where Rankin is located.

Another facility planning process may not be far off.

“Options might include, well, let’s add on to Glacier High School, let’s build a second middle school and let's build another elementary school, that’s one option,” Hill said.

“Another option might be we build another middle school and we build it large enough to handle fifth grade, which will alleviate crowding at our elementaries. Evergreen, Whitefish, Columbia Falls — they all have fifth grade in their middle schools,” he said.

THE CONVERSATION on enrollment growth and building capacity dovetails into the district’s plan to start the strategic planning process later this month.

The typically months-long process is meant to improve educational outcomes for students, according to Hill.

The process may cover, but is not limited to, student achievement data, enrollment numbers, facility capacities, instructional technology, program options for student support, health and wellness options for students and professional development offerings for students.

On Tuesday, the school board approved hiring Darlene Schottle, an independent educational consultant to facilitate the process. Schottle is also a former Kalispell Public Schools superintendent. In her proposal, Schottle suggested starting the process by clarifying the district’s vision and mission followed by identification of current performance levels and an assessment of needs gleaned from public input.

As part of the strategic planning process, community members will be invited to participate in various ways such as focus groups, listening sessions and surveys.

“I just wanted to put that before the board because one of the next steps once we’re through our strategic planning process will be to engage in a long-term facility planning process,” Hill said.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 406-758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.