Columbia Falls spends about $10,683 per student

Columbia Falls will spend about $10,683 per pupil at the elementary level this year, while the high school will spend about $10,974, according to an annual statistical report of schools.

The report, which is done by the Flathead County Superintendent of Schools office, compares all the public schools in Flathead County.

The School District 6 board went over some of the facts and figures in the report at its last meeting.

The cost per student is derived from budgeted funds only.

Columbia Falls is slightly above the countywide average of $10,123 per student at the elementary level, but it’s below the countywide average at the high school level of $11,516.

School size doesn’t necessarily mean more efficiency, either.

Olney Bissell, for example, spends about $12,032.52 per elementary student and Pleasant Valley $17,859.92. Pleasant Valley only has five students, but a budget of almost $90,000.

Deer Park spends the least amount per student at $6,974.65. The small school south of Columbia Falls has a budget of $1.2 million for 173 students.

Columbia Falls spends less per pupil than Whitefish. Whitefish spends $11,818 per pupil at the elementary level and $12,773.52 at the high school level.

But Columbia Falls district value is less than half of Whitefish’s, at $34 million and $75 million respectively.

When it comes to revenue, Columbia Falls School District taxpayers pay about 30% of the total general fund budget. The rest comes from state and federal aid and other sources. However that does not include bond measures. All told, property taxes combined make up about 42% of the high school budget and about 54% of the elementary budget. That includes debt service from bonds.

Over the past five years state funding in Columbia Falls is up 17% and local funding up 5% for the general fund.

Columbia Falls also has healthy reserves, totaling about $1.2 million.

Enrollment in the past 10 years is up at the elementary level, with an increase of 58 students. Enrollment as of October was 1,434, up from 10 years ago, but down from last year when it peaked at 1,491.

Homeschooling countywide has surged this year with the coronavirus crisis, from just under 600 in 2019 to 1,338 this year.

At the high school, enrollment is down 10% over the past 10 years and is now at 646 students as of October. In 2019 it was 658 students. In 2011, it was 721 students.

The full report is online, along with reports that go back 10 years, at https://flathead.mt.gov/schools/ then click on “statistical reports.”