The number of students attending a Flathead County public school is down from a year ago, according to unofficial early enrollment numbers.

Schools will calculate their official fall enrollment beginning Monday and report those figures to the state Office of Public Instruction later this month. But according to numbers given to the Inter Lake at the end of September, Flathead public schools' total enrollment is down about 1.2 percent.

It's the second year in a row that overall enrollment has declined.

The county's elementary schools, including kindergarteners through eighth-graders, are down almost 100 students this fall. The county's five public high schools are down nearly 70 students.

Total enrollment is up about 0.4 percent from fall 1999, and the numbers are 7 percent higher than they were in fall 1991, the earliest year for which the Inter Lake has records.

Nine of the county's elementary districts' enrollments grew this fall. Pleasant Valley went from six students to 10. West Glacier went from 22 to 28, a 27 percent increase.

Principal Cortni King said that many of the extra students have been drawn to West Glacier as an alternative to their previous schools. While she hasn't conducted a formal survey, anecdotally the increased enrollment doesn't seem to be related to the four-day week the school implemented this fall, King said.

West Valley, the largest rural school in the county, gained 34 students this fall, an 8.4 percent increase.

The district had to add a third half-day kindergarten section to accommodate additional students, Superintendent Todd Fiske said. West Valley hasn't yet been able to offer full-day kindergarten because there simply isn't room for three full-day classes, he said.

The school building is just a few students away from maximum capacity, Fiske said, and West Valley is in the middle of a facilities assessment to determine the district's future.

"We're hurting. We're tight," Fiske said.

Kila School is in a similar predicament. The seven additional students at the school this fall, a 4.6 percent increase from a year ago, has further cramped an already-crowded school.

Kila had hoped to expand the school by 11,423 square feet, but voters in the district overwhelmingly shot down a $2.1 million bond request in June.

Bigfork Elementary and Middle School gained 11 students this fall, a 2.3 percent increase from last year.

The most notable increase was in the kindergarten class, which swelled from 48 last year to 69 this fall and prompted the district to hire a third kindergarten teacher three days before school began.

Nearby Swan River School gained seven students this fall, a 4.9 percent increase. The Somers-Lakeside School District added 12 students, a 2.1 percent increase. Creston School added one student to its enrollment this fall.

Kalispell's elementary district grew by 21 students, a 0.8 percent increase.

Its high school district experienced more significant growth: With 53 more students than last fall, Flathead and Glacier high schools' combined enrollment is up 2 percent. It was the only high school district with increased enrollment this fall.

Bigfork High School's enrollment is down 8.3 percent from September 2008. Whitefish High School's student population declined 6.7 percent and Columbia Falls High School's enrollment shrank by 6.4 percent.

Whitefish and Columbia Falls also have smaller elementary districts this fall, with enrollment declines of 3.2 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively. The biggest enrollment loss was at Deer Park School, which went from 88 students last fall to 65 students this fall.

Deer Park's enrollment had been climbing over the last few years; this is the smallest the school has been since 2006.

Principal Dennis Haverlandt said he suspects the reason for the decline may be economic, with families moving either out of state or closer to town for employment reasons.

The economy also affected Smith Valley School's enrollment, which is down about 10 percent from last year. 2008 was an anomaly for the district; several people affected by the economy had moved in with family members in the Smith Valley area.

Secretary Charmaine Stappler said she hoped that having fewer students in the school this fall meant that some families' economic situations had improved.

Olney-Bissell School has nine fewer students this fall than last, a 9.9 percent decrease. Cayuse Prairie's enrollment declined by 9 percent.

Helena Flats has 10 fewer students than it did last fall. Several families chose not to send their children to the school this fall, secretary Jennifer Lengstorf said, but many new families moved in and nearly made up the difference.

Marion School's population is five students less than last fall. The Evergreen School District has 29 fewer students than last fall, but large classes in East Evergreen Elementary School bode well for the district's future growth.

The same is true at other schools whose enrollments have shrunk. At Canyon Elementary in Hungry Horse, part of the Columbia Falls School District, 20 percent of the school's students are in kindergarten.

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