Academic

Performance

The performance backslide of our school district is shocking and concerning.  To paint the performance picture, I reviewed state data presented on the online service named SchoolDigger.  I found their platform easier to work with than that of the Minnesota Department of Education’s (MDE) website.  Cross referencing data points validated SchoolDigger’s data was accurate with MDE’s.

Our District ranking fell from 28th in 2013 to 93rd in 2023.  The high school (AAHS) plummeted from 28th in 2013 to 125th in 2023.  All while per student spending rose from $11,527 in 2015, to a staggering $15,527 in 2023.  I could not find any data for 2013 per student spending.

This decline in performance opens the flood gate for questions.  Simple questions such as: Why has this been allowed to happen?  Did the 2013 implementation of either the Academy model or the A/B class schedule at the high school have a role in this decline?  Does SEL have an influence in this decline?

No matter what the answers are, I will push to develop an improvement plan and implementation.