From the start of the 2023-24 school year to its conclusion, the number of students experiencing homelessness in Kalispell’s public school system jumped from 293 to 365. Assistant Superintendent Sara Cole said the increase reflects a growing trend in her district, one driven primarily by the soaring cost of living in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The valley during COVID and post-COVID became unaffordable,” Cole said. “The homes that were $200,000 are now $500,000, $600,000. And so even families who were affording to live here pre-COVID are just getting priced out and are unable to make ends meet.”

The rising number of families experiencing homelessness is hardly isolated to the Flathead Valley. According to data from Montana’s Office of Public Instruction, the number of students statewide who meet the federal definition of homeless has skyrocketed in the past decade and a half, from roughly 1,200 in 2010-11 to more than 4,700 a year ago. The upticks haven’t discriminated between urban and rural districts. Just south of Flathead Lake, the Ronan Public Schools reported 184 homeless students in OPI’s latest count, up from 21 less than 15 years ago.

Last month, OPI announced the latest round of federal funding aimed at bolstering local support for this growing population of students. All told, the agency allocated $425,000 to 12 districts, including Kalispell, Ronan, Bozeman, Townsend and Vaughn. The money represents a last-ditch effort by the state to spend pandemic-era American Rescue Plan Act funds earmarked for homeless children and youth ahead of a September expiration date.