Northwoods Reporter

There were 1,942 white students enrolled in Washburn County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 2.4% less than the previous year, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Data showed that Washburn County schools welcomed 2,170 students during the 2023-24 school year. Among them, white students comprised 89.5% of the student body to be the most represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 17 schools in Washburn County, Spooner High School recorded the highest enrollment of white students in the 2023-24 school year, with a total of 345 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
Birchwood Elementary School	92%	87
Birchwood High School	97%	66
Birchwood Middle School	89.5%	38
Birchwood Public Montessori	87.5%	24
Bobcat Virtual Academy	81.8%	11
NorthStar Community Charter School	96.7%	30
Northwood Elementary School	84.2%	158
Northwood High/Middle School	85.4%	137
Northwood Virtual Charter School	100%	3
Shell Lake Elementary (3-6)	92.5%	173
Shell Lake Junior/Senior High School	89.3%	317
Shell Lake Primary (K-2)	86.7%	128
Spooner Elementary School	89.1%	366
Spooner High School	92.3%	374
Spooner Middle School	88%	258