Zumbro Education District

Zumbro Education District is a very small, specialized set of schools in Kasson, Minnesota — just three programs serving grades K–12, all located at 2002 Mantorville Ave N — with no traditional elementary or middle schools in the area listing, a combined enrollment of only 106 students, and a district rank of 457 of 458 (0 stars).

Because the group is so small, each school tells a distinct story. Zumbro Education District Futures/Choice, an alternative K–12 program with 32 students, is the relative academic standout: in 2025–2026 it reported 21.4% proficiency in math and 25% in reading, both above the Zumbro Education District figures of 10.3% and 17.2%, and its math score rose from 8.33% the prior year. Zumbro Area Learning Center is the largest program at 59 students and has the most reported data, but also the steepest challenges: 0% math, 11.8% reading and 0% science in 2025–2026, a graduation rate of 64.8% versus the state's 84.9%, and a dropout rate of 10.8% versus 4.2% statewide; its reading proficiency fell from 31.58% the year before. Transition 2 Success is the smallest, with 15 students and a notably lower free/reduced-lunch rate of 20%, but no test-score or graduation data are reported, so its outcomes cannot be compared.

Across all three, reported proficiency trails state averages by a wide margin — district math was 10.3% versus 44.9% statewide, reading 17.2% versus 48.6%, and science 5.9% versus 25.5%. Student-to-teacher ratios are low, from 2.6 to 5.5 students per teacher, consistent with small-group alternative and transition programming. Note that many values are suppressed by the state to protect privacy, which should be treated as unknown rather than zero, and small enrollments make year-to-year swings sensitive to a handful of students.