Black River Falls School District

Black River Falls School District serves about 1,552 students across four schools: two elementary, one middle, and one high school, with grades PK–12. The high school is the largest at 500 students, while Forrest Street Elementary is the smallest at 289. The district is ranked 404 of 432 in Wisconsin, at the 6th percentile with 0 stars, placing it in the bottom tier of state districts.

Black River Falls High has the district’s strongest completion metric: a 92.3% graduation rate, slightly above the state’s 92.0%. But it also has the highest chronic absenteeism at 28.4% and a dropout rate of 2.6%, more than double the state’s 1.1%. Red Creek Elementary has the lowest absenteeism at 21.2% and the lowest student-teacher ratio at 12.3. Black River Falls Middle earned 2 stars and 30th percentile in 2024–25—the only above-state test result was its 8th grade science at 53.13% vs. 50.04%—but dropped to 1 star, 19th percentile, and 35.92% in 8th grade science in 2025–26. Forrest Street Elementary School spends the most per pupil at $17,751 but serves PK–1 and has no test scores.

Chronic absenteeism is a district-wide problem: every school exceeds the state’s 17.3%, from Red Creek Elementary’s 21.2% to the high school’s 28.4%. Math is the clearest academic weakness, with gaps to state including Middle 8th grade math at −24.54 points, High ACT math at −19.57 points, and Red Creek 5th grade math at −20.06 points. Free/reduced lunch rates are high: Middle 62.08%, Red Creek 58.94%, Forrest Street 58.48%, and High 49.8%. Red Creek’s relative strength is 4th grade social studies, where the gap to state is smallest. Overall, Black River Falls has positive signals like the high school’s graduation rate, but faces below-state test proficiency, high absenteeism, and a very low district rank.