New numbers from the state show a slight drop in graduation rates for high school students.
Data from the Minnesota Department of Education shows 2023 graduation rates for students of color accounted for most of the decline.
Sarah Hunter with Minneapolis Public Schools says the effects of the pandemic may have caused a ripple effect.
"We saw decreases in all groups except for our American Indian students and students of the home language of Somali," Hunter explains. "Those two demographic groups in Minneapolis Public Schools were flat, whereas the rest of our system declined."
Hunter says due to errors in tracking Minnesota students, the data may not be 100% accurate.
"Our graduation rates are showing a decrease that is more significant than what is accurate based on the children who we actually graduated over the summer," Hunter tells WCCO. "We did an internal recalculation and our estimate is that instead of a drop of 9% it would have been a decrease of 3%."
She says this should emphasize the need for schools statewide to keep track and support student progress more closely. Students who finished their summer programs and those participating in alternative learning plans were left out of the total number of graduates in the district.