SW Wisconsin News

The majority of students in Vernon County districts were white in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

Of the 3,770 students attending Vernon County district schools, 93.1% were white. Multiracial students were the second largest ethnic group among Vernon County's districts, making up 3.1% of the student body.

In the previous school year, white students were also the most common group in Vernon County districts, representing 93.2% of the student body.

During the 2022-23 school year, De Soto Area School District, Viroqua Area School District and Westby Area School District were recognized as having the most diverse student bodies in Vernon County. De Soto Area School District and Viroqua Area School District had a student population comprising American Indian, Asian, African American, Hispanic, multiracial, and white while Westby Area School District was had Asian, African American, Hispanic, Pacific Islander, multiracial, and white students.

In the 2022-23 school year, the total number of students enrolled in school districts in the county dropped to 1.1% compared to the previous year.

The main offices of all districts mentioned in the story are located in cities associated with Vernon County.

According to the Nation's Report Card 2022 results, Black fourth-graders in Wisconsin scored an average of 40 points lower than their white colleagues in both Math and Reading.

Data also showed that Black students were three times as likely to fail the Reading test than white pupils in the state. The gap is even larger in Mathematics, with Black students failing five times more than white students.

District	Most Prevalent	Percent of Total Student Body	Total Enrollment
De Soto Area School District	White	93.8	468
Hillsboro School District	White	91	502
Kickapoo Area School District	White	95.5	471
La Farge School District	White	91.2	250
Viroqua Area School District	White	92	1,042
Westby Area School District	White	94.1	1,037