Northwoods Reporter

There were 28 American Indian students enrolled in Washburn County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 12.5% 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, American Indian students comprised 1.3% of the student body to be the fourth most represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 17 schools in Washburn County, Shell Lake Junior/Senior High School recorded the highest enrollment of American Indian students in the 2023-24 school year, with eight 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 American Indian students enrollment	Total Enrollment
Birchwood Elementary School	1.2%	87
Birchwood Middle School	2.6%	38
Bobcat Virtual Academy	9.1%	11
NorthStar Community Charter School	3.3%	30
Shell Lake Elementary (3-6)	0.6%	173
Shell Lake Junior/Senior High School	2.5%	317
Shell Lake Primary (K-2)	2.3%	128
Spooner Elementary School	1.6%	366
Spooner High School	0.5%	374
Spooner Middle School	1.6%	258