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District 196 reports improved course completion and steady attendance in trimester 2
Summary
District officials told the school board that trimester‑to‑trimester course completion rates increased in 2024–25 and that consistently attending rates remain above state averages; staff described targeted interventions and data tools used to identify students in need of support.
District 196 administrators presented trimester 2 attendance and secondary course‑completion data at the April 14 school board meeting, saying course completion rates rose from trimester 1 to trimester 2 and that the percentage of students meeting the state—290% "consistently attending" threshold remains above the Minnesota average.
Eric Hansen, director of secondary education, said consistently attending is defined by the Minnesota Department of Education as attending school more than 90% of school days. He reported middle‑school students—2trimester‑2 consistently attending at about 83% (compared with 83.5% in the prior year), and high school consistently attending at approximately 79%. Both remained above the statewide all‑students average of 74.5%.
Hansen and Jeremy Sorensen, director of elementary education, told the board that trimester‑to‑trimester course completion improved: 86% of middle school students passed all trimester‑1 courses, rising to 88.8% in trimester 2, while high school students passing all classes increased from 85% in trimester 1 to 90% in trimester 2. The presenters said those gains reflect teacher interventions, advisory grade checks and school teams that identify struggling students early.
Board members asked for specifics about which practices produced improvements and how absence reasons are tracked. Sorensen and Hansen described local data tools and processes: building administrators use the district—2Unified Insights tool and Infinite Campus data to analyze absence patterns by day, month and reason codes and to target supports. Hansen said building teams meet with students and families and create individualized plans when attendance or course completion is a concern.
The presentation highlighted demographic ranges for consistently attending: elementary 77.2%–91.6%; middle school 71.8%–89%; and high school 58.5%–88.3% across different groups. Hansen and Sorensen noted the typical seasonal dip in trimester 2 (winter months) and said staff expect attendance to improve in spring.
Board members praised the data and asked staff to continue sharing best practices districtwide; staff said the district was working on integrating more detailed absence reason reporting into district dashboards for future correlation with course completion.
