Northwoods Reporter

There were 5,682 white students enrolled in Polk County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 6.3% less than the previous year, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Data showed that Polk County schools welcomed 6,298 students during the 2023-24 school year. Among them, white students comprised 90.2% of the student body to be the most represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 26 schools in Polk County, Osceola High School recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2023-24 school year, with a total of 433 students.

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.

These achievement gaps are also reflected in graduation rates. According to recent US Census data, nearly 95% of white students in the state successfully graduated in 2021.

Meanwhile, graduation rates for Black and multiracial students lagged behind white students by 10%. Even further behind, only 71.6% of Hispanic students completed their high school education during the same period, one of the lowest graduation rates in the state.

School name	% of white students enrollment	Total Enrollment
Amery High School	90.7%	430
Amery Intermediate School	89.8%	275
Amery Middle School	90.7%	300
Clayton Elementary School	93.4%	136
Clayton High School	96.9%	96
Clayton Middle School	97.9%	47
Clear Lake High School	89.9%	198
Clear Lake Junior High School	96%	74
Dresser Elementary School	89.4%	66
Frederic 6-12 School	88.1%	226
Frederic Elementary School	92.6%	189
Gaylord A. Nelson Educational Center	91.8%	269
Lien Elementary School	92.5%	321
Luck Elementary School	91%	177
Luck High School	94.3%	123
Luck Middle School	92.4%	79
Osceola Elementary School	92.9%	339
Osceola High School	93.5%	463
Osceola Intermediate School	89.8%	265
Osceola Middle School	88.8%	294
Saint Croix Falls Elementary School	91%	322
Saint Croix Falls High School	90.5%	356
Saint Croix Falls Middle School	90.7%	311
Unity Elementary School	82.5%	389
Unity High School	81.7%	295
Unity Middle School	87.2%	258