Chippewa Valley Times

There were three Pacific Islander students enrolled in St. Croix County schools in the 2023-24 school year, 40% less than the previous year, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Data showed that St. Croix County schools welcomed 14,411 students during the 2023-24 school year. Among them, Pacific Islander students comprised less than 0.1% of the student body to be the least represented ethnicity in the county.

Among the 31 schools in St. Croix County, New Richmond High School, New Richmond Middle School, and Saint Croix Central High School enrolled one Pacific Islander student each in 2023-24 school 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.

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 Pacific Islander students enrollment	Total Enrollment
New Richmond High School	0.1%	1,086
New Richmond Middle School	0.1%	726
Saint Croix Central High School	0.2%	486