Northwoods Reporter

Among the many ethnicities represented in Rusk County schools, white was the most prevalent ethnicity among Rusk County students in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Of the 1,614 students attending Rusk County schools, 91.6% were white. Ethnicities <5% students were the second largest ethnicity, making up 8.4% of Rusk County students.

In the previous school year, white students were also the most common group in Rusk County, representing 91.5% of the student body.

Bruce Elementary School had the most even distribution of races among the county schools which included 91% white students, 3.5% Hispanic students, 3.5% multiracial students, 1% American Indian students, 0.5% Black students, and 0.5% Pacific Islander students.

In the 2022-23 school year, the total number of students enrolled in public schools in the county dropped 5.1% compared to the previous year.

According to the Nation’s Report Card 2022 results, Black fourth-graders in Wisconsin scored an average of 40 points lower than their white colleagues in both Math and Reading.

Data also showed that Black students were three times as likely to fail the Reading test than white pupils in the state. The gap is even larger in Mathematics, with black students failing five times more than white students.

School name	Most Represented ethnicity	Percent of Total Student Body	Total Enrollment
Bruce Elementary School	White	91%	200
Bruce High School	White	94.7%	131
Bruce Middle School	White	92.4%	79
Flambeau Elementary School	White	98.6%	214
Flambeau High School	White	97.9%	141
Flambeau Middle School	White	96.2%	106
Ladysmith Elementary School	White	88.2%	329
Ladysmith High School	White	85.7%	245
Ladysmith Middle School	White	88.2%	169