Missoula Schools Brace for New Year Amid Enrollment Challenges

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - With the start of the 2025-2026 school year less than a month away, MCPS Superintendent Micah Hill appeared on Talk Back to answer questions from KGVO listeners.

Hill was asked about current student enrollment in the city’s public schools.

MCPS Superintendent Micah Hill was on Tuesday's Talk Back Show

“Interestingly, for Missoula and a lot of Western Montana communities, we're seeing increased population as a whole, but we're seeing decreased student enrollment,” began Hill. So, Missoula County Public Schools over the last five, six years has seen the decline of over 600 students in our district, we've seen increases at the high school level, but in the elementary K-8, we're actually seeing a decline.”

Hill said Missoula’s public schools have all the room they need to provide a quality education to their students.

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Hill said Missoula's Public Schools are not Overcrowded

“Right now, our capacity in terms of how many classrooms versus teachers, we're sitting at a district average in the elementary of 89 percent of capacity,” he said. “In our middle schools, we're at 97 percent capacity. In our high schools, it's a little bit harder to gauge, but we're probably sitting right around 92 percent capacity. So that's the number of teachers we have versus the number of seats that we have available to serve all of those students and meet accreditation standards.”

Hill was asked about how MCPS provides education for students who are homeless.

Hill said there are Many Homeless Students Attending MCPS Schools

“Homeless students are actually governed by what's known as the McKinney Vento Act, and it basically makes a determination for us about whether or not a student is considered homeless,” he said. “Homeless indicates ‘unhoused’, and so homeless can mean we've lost our primary residence, and I'm now couch surfing. It can mean that I'm living in my car. It could mean that I'm having to stay at my grandparents' home on their couch, or I'm just not in a family unit identified dwelling.”

Hill said any homeless student is eligible to receive a number of helpful services.

Hill said Homeless Students are Eligible for Helpful Services

“At each of our schools, there's a person that our families can go to,” he said. “They can get connected to services like the (Missoula) food bank, they can get connected to housing, they can get connected to just a whole variety of different resources. We actually spend quite a bit of energy trying to support that. It's really hard to imagine what it would be like to be seven years old, and not know where your next meal is coming from or where you're going to stay the night.”

The first day of school is at the end of August.