District Spotlight
Red Lake: Where Two-Thirds of Students Are Chronically Absent
Red Lake Public School District reported a 68.4% chronic absence rate, highest among Minnesota districts with at least 500 students.
Minnesota
Education News & Data
Local education reporting from every corner of Minnesota, grounded in Minnesota Department of Education data.
Minneapolis: Nearly Half of Students Were Chronically Absent at COVID Peak
Minneapolis chronic absenteeism peaked at 47.0% in 2021-22 and fell to 31.7% by 2023-24, still 10.3 points above Minnesota.
More Than Four in Ten Minnesota Economically Disadvantaged Students Were Chronically Absent
In 2020-21, 40.6% of Minnesota students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch were chronically absent, 19.1 points above the statewide rate; subgroup breakdowns are available only for that year.
Minnesota's Chronic Absence Rate Improved 0.8 Points. 28 of 295 Districts Hit Four-Year Highs
Minnesota's chronic absence rate improved 0.8 points in 2023-24, while 28 of 295 strict four-year-panel districts reached highs.
Rochester Improved Attendance Faster Than Minnesota, but Still Led Large Districts in Chronic Absence
Rochester's chronic-absence rate fell 8.9 points to 31.8%, narrowing its statewide gap while remaining highest among Minnesota districts above 10,000 students.
More Coverage
Equity
The 25-Point Gap: Minnesota's Black-White Chronic Absence Divide
In Minnesota, 40% of Black students were chronically absent compared to 14.5% of white students -- a 25-point gap the state can no longer track because it stopped publishing subgroup data.
Enrollment
74 Kindergartners for Every 100 Seniors
Minnesota hits four simultaneous grade-level records in 2026: all-time high pre-K and 12th grade, all-time low kindergarten and first grade.
District Spotlight
Hastings Has Not Grown in 19 Years
Hastings is the only Minnesota district to decline every single year in the state's dataset. The 19-year streak has erased 1,118 students, 22% of enrollment.
Demographics
Every Other Group Is Growing. White Enrollment Is Not.
Minnesota lost 130,507 white students since 2007 while every other racial group grew. White decline exceeds the state's entire net enrollment change.
School Choice
Minnesota's Largest School Has No Building
A virtual campus run by Pearson now enrolls more students than any brick-and-mortar school in Minnesota. Online enrollment has tripled since COVID.
Demographics
Minneapolis Is Becoming Whiter as Black Families Leave
Black enrollment in Minneapolis Public Schools has fallen 47% since 2007, while white share rose from 28.5% to 36.4%. The shift is not gentrification adding students. It is Black and Asian families leaving faster.
Enrollment
The Suburban Donut: Minnetonka Surpasses Robbinsdale
Outer-ring Twin Cities suburbs gained 12,559 students since 2007 while inner-ring districts lost 7,248, reshaping the metro's enrollment geography.
Special Populations
One in Five: Minnesota Nears a Special Education Threshold
Nearly one in five Minnesota students now receives special education services, up from one in seven in 2014, straining budgets despite a historic state funding increase.
School Choice
Minnesota's Charter Movement Hits a Ceiling
The state that invented charter schools 35 years ago saw its charter share stall at 8.3% in 2025-26, even as 76 of the 245 charters ever opened have closed.
Demographics
43% Black: How St. Cloud Became Minnesota's Most Transformed District
St. Cloud's Black enrollment surged from 12% to 43% in 20 years, driven by Somali resettlement. The district now has more Black students than white.
