Kalispell schools get surge from other towns

Enrollment remained steady at Kalispell's public high schools this fall, with about 2,600 students attending grades nine through 12 at Flathead and Glacier high schools.

The numbers are nearly unchanged from last fall - but Kalispell's student composition is different.

About 3 percent of the district's high-school students live in one of the valley's other high-school districts but have chosen to attend school in Kalispell.

Eleven students from the Columbia Falls district are attending high school in Kalispell, according to numbers Kalispell Superintendent Darlene Schottle shared with the board of trustees in August.

Numbers from the Whitefish and Bigfork districts are higher still.

Forty-seven students from the Whitefish High School district are attending school in Kalispell this fall, Schottle said Thursday. Twenty-seven students from the Bigfork district are enrolled in Kalispell. Most Whitefish students are at Glacier, while most Bigfork students are at Flathead High.

Each out-of-district student pays $150 to attend a Kalispell high school, Schottle said.

"It could be considered a tuition, but it's really more of an entry paperwork kind of fee," Schottle said. "It's not really intended to cover the cost of attending school in the district."

The out-of-district high-school students are in all four grades and come for a variety of reasons, Schottle said.

"Probably the most common reason is because we are larger schools, there is more variability in our offerings," she said, adding that those more varied offerings include academic and extracurricular opportunities.

Whitefish Superintendent Jerry House said he didn't know why some Whitefish students had chosen to attend school in another district.

"We failed the bond here," House said, referring to the district's 2008 attempt to pass a $21.5 million bond request to upgrade and expand the high school. "Whether it's because we don't have a glitzy school or people moving for different jobs or the difference in program offerings … throw a ball up in the air" and pick a reason.

Bigfork Superintendent Russ Kinzer said much the same thing as House.

"It's a nice school with attractive programs. It's an attractive school," he said of Glacier, which is in its third year. "Our high-school building is 45 to 50 years old, and we struggle to maintain it. To some people, that's important."

There are several other reasons why students might choose one school district over another, Kinzer added.

"It's socioeconomics, usually," he said. "Are there other reasons? Yes, but it's usually the socioeconomics, and it's wise to look beyond the numbers part of it to look at some of these other reasons one way or another."

Bigfork and Whitefish also attract some out-of district students, Kinzer and House said.

They may attract more in the future, thanks to the schools' new Virtual High School program.

In the program, students can choose from scores of classes that weren't available before at Bigfork High School, including zoology and philosophy. The vast array of Virtual High School classes also is available at Whitefish High School, which is contracting with Bigfork for the program, Kinzer said.

There are 17 Advanced Placement classes available through Virtual High School and a handful of International Baccalaureate classes. Students can't get a full IB diploma through Virtual High School, Bigfork guidance counselor Christina Nadeau said; in Montana, only Flathead offers a full IB diploma program.

Jodie Barber, a counselor at Flathead, said most Bigfork students transfer there for the IB program.

Last April, the Bigfork School District was curious about the number of students who were leaving, Kinzer said.

"The numbers tend to get inflated or distorted in the process," he said.

According to information from the Flathead County Superintendent of Schools office, 29 Bigfork students attended high school in Kalispell last fall. The number don't jive with information Bigfork officials collected last spring.

As of April 24, six students had moved out of state. Two moved to other communities in Montana. Six stayed in the Bigfork district but left the school - two for Flathead High School, one to Columbia Falls High School, two for home school and one to get a GED.

Other information Kinzer received said six Bigfork students had relocated to Kalispell high schools. Two left for disciplinary reasons, two for athletic reasons and two because they had siblings at a Kalispell school.

State law allows students to attend school with a sibling, Kinzer said, so if one child is already at an out-of-district school, his or her sibling may choose to be there as well.

Some movement between districts is expected, Kinzer said. He calls the number of students moving in and out of a district the "mobility factor" and estimates Bigfork's mobility factor at about 20 percent.

The higher a school's mobility factor, the harder it is for teachers, Kinzer said.

"It's kind of like teaching to a moving target," he explained. "Schools with high mobility factors struggle. I have known of inner-city schools [with a mobility factor] of 60 to 70 percent."

At 20 percent, Kinzer said Bigfork's mobility factor is about average.

One danger with students leaving one district for another is the home district's loss of funding. The bulk of Montana public schools' funding is based on their student populations. As enrollment declines, so do budgets.

Enrollments have declined in Bigfork and Whitefish in recent years, but this year's enrollments have held largely steady from last year.

Last fall, Bigfork High School had 312 students in October; this year, there are 309 students. Whitefish has 514 students this fall, compared to last year's 522.

Larger classes may be in Bigfork's future, Kinzer said. There were so many kindergartners this fall that the school had to add a fourth classroom.

Muldown Elementary sent a large fourth-grade class to Whitefish Middle School this year, House said. The incoming kindergarten class doesn't quite make up for the large class Muldown graduated, but there are still about 12 more K-8 students in Whitefish than there were last year.

The students moving into the district will help buffer any funding loss Bigfork and Whitefish high schools might have felt from those who left.

Whitefish High School Principal Dave Carlson, who is new this year, said he has heard several reasons why students are leaving for Glacier. Reasons range from wanting different athletic opportunities to dissatisfaction with the way the district is run, he said.

"Education is all about choice," Carlson said. "We have to be competitive and provide a product that is competitive."

Kinzer agreed that choices are important.

"If parents are going to be selective in trying to find a school that is the best fit for their child, then more credit to them," he said.

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