Cass Lake-Bena Secondary

Cass Lake-Bena Secondary is a public 9–12 high school in Cass Lake, MN, serving 263 students in a high-poverty north-central Minnesota community as part of Cass Lake-Bena Public Schools. In 2025–26, Cass Lake-Bena Secondary ranked 421st of 473 Minnesota high schools (11th percentile, 1 star); the district ranked 425th of 458 (7th percentile, 0 stars). The school has remained in the bottom quartile in shown history—recent percentiles were 15th (2022–23), 11th (2023–24), 5th (2024–25), and 11th (2025–26). Its 2024–25 graduation rate was 75.0%, above the district’s 62.2% but below the state’s 84.9%, and its 12.5% dropout rate was nearly three times the state’s 4.2%.

Reading is the relative bright spot: 26.7% proficiency in 2025–26, above the district’s 22.1% and higher than Cass Lake-Bena Area Learning Cntr. (13.3%), Voyageurs Expeditionary School (6.3%), and Bemidji Senior Lumberjack Alternative Learning Center (18.2%), though still far below Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Sec. (43.5%), Laporte Secondary (40.7%), Bemidji Senior High (47.4%), and the state (48.6%). Math is a severe weakness at 2.5% proficient, below every nearby school with reported data except two alternative settings. Science has slid to 4.8%, now below the district’s 5.6% after being above it in 2022–23 and 2023–24. Although 75.67% of students qualify for free/reduced lunch, nearby Laporte Secondary and Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Sec. have much lower poverty and stronger outcomes, so poverty alone does not explain the results. The student-teacher ratio of 11.7 is relatively favorable compared with Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Sec. (12.2), Laporte Secondary (14.3), Treknorth High School (15.6), and Bemidji Senior High (19.8).

Completion and subgroup data raise concerns. The 75.0% graduation rate exceeds the same-district alternative center’s 35.2% but trails Walker-Hackensack-Akeley Sec. (93.7%), Laporte Secondary (95.4%), and Bemidji Senior High (82.3%). The 12.5% dropout rate is higher than every nearby school with reported data. In 2025–26, effectiveness rankings for many student groups were bottom-quintile: female students 11th percentile, male students 6th, low-SES students 11th, and special education students 23rd, down from 82nd percentile in 2020–21. For parents, the most actionable priorities are the math and science gaps, the recent dropout increase, and support for male, low-income, and special education students.