Flathead County School Enrollment Dips Again
The decline in student enrollment may present challenges for Montana’s public schools, which are funded primarily by per-student entitlements
By Denali Sagner
Enrollment across Flathead County’s public school districts dropped again this year as population growth slows in the county and across Montana.
Between fall of 2023 and 2024, the county’s public elementary school districts saw an overall decrease in student enrollment by 117 students, or 1%. The county’s four public high school districts — Bigfork, Columbia Falls, Kalispell and Whitefish — saw a 136-student, or 3%, enrollment decrease.
The number of private and homeschool high school students dropped by 26%, or 118 students.
The outlier, private and homeschool elementary schools, saw a slight increase at 1%, or 68 students.
While nearly all of the Flathead’s elementary schools saw a drop in enrollment or no change, a handful of outliers experienced growth, including Fair-Mont-Egan (10%), Helena Flats (4%), Kila (5%), Olney-Bissell (4%) and West Valley (5%).
Administrators at Fair-Mont-Egan credit new early literacy and positive behavior programs for spurring growth in the small district, which now boasts 158 students, up from 133 in 2022 and 143 in 2023.
The Marion and Creston school districts — both small, rural schools — saw the largest drop in enrollment by percentage, both losing 20% of their student bodies from 2023 to 2024.
St. Matthew’s School, a private, Catholic school in downtown Kalispell, saw a 38% enrollment increase, or 68 students.
This is the second year in a row school enrollment has dropped in Flathead County after a post-pandemic population boom brought marked growth to Montana’s school districts. Between 2020 and 2021, Flathead County’s student population grew from 16,717 to 17,320 as new residents flocked to the area.
While the post-COVID enrollment increases tested the infrastructure of local schools — especially in small, rural districts — new students brought in much-needed funding to districts, many of which are now facing mounting budget woes.
Montana’s public schools are funded primarily through a per-student entitlement called “average number belonging,” or ANB. Schools receive about $4,900 per elementary and middle school student and $6,300 per high school student. As enrollment drops, so too does additional funding that allows districts to hire staff, purchase supplies and keep the lights on.
Even in districts with stagnant enrollment, the rising cost of everything from pencils to custodial salaries makes educating the students an increasingly expensive venture.
As the 69th Montana Legislature prepares to kick off on Monday, public education advocates are pushing for an overhaul to the state’s public school funding formula, which relies heavily on per-student enrollment and requires school districts levy local taxpayers to make up large portions of their budget.