APPLETON, Wis–The Appleton Area School District continues to see wide gaps in graduation rates for students of color. While 91.7% of white kids graduated on time last year, just 61.6% of Black students and 73.6% of Hispanic students in Appleton did the same. Those numbers climb to 73.5% for Blacks and 81.3% for Hispanics if they study for a fifth year, and 83% and 87% respectively after a sixth year of high school.
School Board member Nick Ross wonders why the district can’t graduate kids of color on time……….
Assistant Superintendent Mike Hernandez says the district is trying to make up for decisions made in the past dealing with how it taught elementary reading………..
As a whole, 86.7% of Appleton students in the class of 2023 graduated on-time. That number has increased in each of the last two years.