MARTIN COUNTY – The Minnesota Department of Education has released its report cards on public school districts, including those in Martin County.

These report cards reveal MCA test results in Math and Reading, establishing a timeline for percentage of students meeting standards going back five years. There is also usually a trend line for Science, but this has been reset due to 2025 being the first year of a new Science test. The cards also keep track of rates for consistent attendance and graduation, as well as administered school-wide questionnaires.

For Fairmont, their graduation rate was 85 percent with 119 graduates, down slightly from the 88 percent in 2024 with 122 students. Across all school levels, Fairmont’s regular attendance rate was right at the state average with 75.1 percent, and the state at 75.5 percent. Superintendent Andy Traetow said the state’s graduation rate doesn’t tell the full story, as it only takes into account four-year graduation rates.

“Our five year graduation rate is 92.09 percent; six year is 90.37 percent; and seven year is 90.7 percent,” he said. “These numbers are more closely aligned with our historical data trends.”

When asked whether they would agree or disagree with the statement “At my school, teachers care about students.” Eighty-one point five percent of the 335 jr/sr high school students polled agreed or strongly agreed, as did 98 percent of the 135 elementary students polled.

The high school had a slight increase in its reading percentages, with 40.4 percent of the testing students meeting standards in 2025 compared to 39.7 percent in 2024. There was a decrease in math, from 35.5 percent to 30.7 percent. At the Elementary level, both Math and Reading saw 1percent increases, from 37.6 percent to 38.9 percent in Math and from 41.4 percent to 42.5 percent.

Even though things are holding steady, Traetow said they want to see continued improvement.

“Across the board, we need to strive for improvement and do everything we can to help our students develop the literacy and mathematical reasoning skills they need to be successful,” he said.

In addressing this, Traetow said they are encouraged by the implementation of new math curriculum resources and are bringing in new reading and literacy curriculum soon.

“Our teachers have engaged in intensive learning in this area over the past two years,” he said. “The upcoming implementation of these new curricular resources that are more closely aligned with the state standards will be a positive step in the right direction for our district.”

Looking forward, Traetow said their learners are not statistical data points, and they look forward to being proactive and innovative in approaching education so they can provide the best possible education for their kids.

At Granada-Huntley-East Chain (GHEC), their graduation rate is at 100 percent, with 19 students graduating in 2025. They also have an above-average regular attendance with 80 percent of their district’s students attending more than 90 percent of the time.

Compared to a larger district like Fairmont, smaller districts like GHEC and Truman typically have only a couple of dozen students take standardized tests each year, which means percentages can vary significantly from year to year.

The elementary students went down from 37.5 percent to 24.6 percent in Math, with a smaller fall-off of 38.1 percent to 36.2 percent in Reading. The middle and high school saw increases in Math and decreases in Reading. Superintendent Doug Storbeck said they take the percentages and fluctuations due to small class sizes into account.

“These tests are a very small picture of the student,” he said. “We use other assessments multiple times throughout the course of the year to monitor how the kids are doing.”

What Storbeck said they’re most proud of is the district’s intervention process, which takes advantage of their small size to support students and push them for success. To continue pushing for academic success, Storbeck said they are pursuing a reduction of technology in the school district as a whole.

“We’re going back to old school,” he said. “We’re going to be reducing the amount of technology being utilized in the classroom and doing more hands-on activities with our students. We feel like that is going to benefit us in the long run.”

With Truman, 87 percent of their 209 students in the district attend school regularly, more than 10 percent higher than the state average. They’ve also continued to see high graduation rates, with 93.4 percent graduating according to the state in 2025. Superintendent Lisa Shellum said they have graduated 100 percent of their students since she started in 2018, which she attributed to the students.

“The kids stay to graduate because school is important to them,” she said. “It’s a family priority. We know our families here we work with not just students, but families. That’s how we market ourselves, and I think families know that to be true.”

Truman Elementary increased in math from 31.1 percent to 35.8 percent meeting standards, and decreased in reading from 41.9 percent to 36.4 percent. The Secondary school students saw their math percentage increase from 24 percent to 25.6 percent, while reading, which had risen from 26.1 percent to 52.1 percent the previous year, leveled off this year at 34.9 percent, meeting expectations.

Looking at these numbers and other factors, Shellum said they are pivoting to a new Math curriculum a year earlier than their curriculum cycle would dictate.

“We’re working with a consultant from South Central Service Cooperative in Mankato,” she said. “We’ve been to several different types of meetings and curriculum fairs and working with other school districts. It’s a huge network, so we are going to get things into the hands of our kids that are very useful. We’ve been piloting part of it this year, and it’s awesome.”

Looking forward, Shellum said the learning environment and staffing are their top priorities.

“We’re obviously working on our building, which needed a lot of work, to make sure that we have a great learning environment,” she said. “Making sure we are able to hire highly qualified staff in their places, which we have been very lucky to do. We want families to come to our school and feel like we are always there for them.”

Martin County West’s rate of students attending school regularly was slightly above the state average at 76.3 percent. The graduation rate increased from 88.7 percent to 96.6 percent, with 56 students graduating in 2025.

One-hundred percent of the 26 elementary students polled, 79.5 percent of the 39 junior high students polled and 89.1 percent of the 64 senior high students polled agreed or strongly agreed with the statement “At my school, teachers care about students.”

The elementary students’ MCA percentages were some of the highest in the county, with 48 percent in math and 43 percent in reading meeting standards. At the junior high level, the math percentage fell from 49.4 percent to 48.9 percent and the reading percentage went from 33.3 percent to 38.5 percent.

The senior high saw drop-offs in sample size and percentage, as only seven students took the math MCA, and 17.1 percent met expectations. Of the 12 that took the reading MCA, 28percent met expectations.

To look at the data and trends, visit rc.education.mn.gov/#mySchool/.