LYON COUNTY — Record numbers of Minnesota high school seniors graduated in 2018, the Minnesota Department of Education announced last week. While the Department of Education said state graduation rate of 83.2% was the highest on record, several school districts in Lyon County had higher rates than that last year.

According to data available on the Minnesota Report Card website, the Lakeview, Minneota, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton and Tracy Area Public School Districts each had graduation rates higher than the state rate in 2018. In RTR’s case, the entire graduating class of 36 students completed high school in four years.

“I think it’s a credit to all of our teachers, from kindergarten through 12th grade,” said RTR High School Principal Dan Bettin.

RTR’s graduation rate has climbed over the past three years,up from 90% in 2016. While this year’s 100% rate was something to strive for, Bettin said, graduation rates also fluctuate from year to year. The variables affecting whether a student drops out or leaves the district aren’t always in a school’s control.

“And in small schools, one student makes a huge difference,” he said. RTR staff put an emphasis on working with students to make sure they’re getting the support they need to graduate on time, Bettin said.

While RTR was the only school district in Lyon County with a perfect graduation rate in 2018, Lakeview, Minneota and Tracy all did better than the state rate. The Lakeview School District had a four-year graduation rate of 93.5% in 2018, according to Minnesota Report Card data. The district has had graduation rates above 90% since 2015.

Lakeview Superintendent Chris Fenske said the 2018 graduation rate was positive, but not necessarily because it was higher than the statewide rate. For the district, the goal to meet was laid out in its World’s Best Workforce plan. The “Striving for the World’s Best Workforce” bill, passed in 2013, required Minnesota school districts to develop plans to close achievement gaps and ensure students graduate from high school, among other goals.

Fenske said Lakeview’s goal under the plan was to have a graduation rate of at least 93% in 2018. The district has implemented programs like REACH (Relationships, Education, Accountability, Character and Hard Work) to help make sure students have the support they need, he said. Lakeview has also joined with other area school districts to collaborate on career and technical education.

“Our challenge has been, we’re a small school,” Fenske said — on its own, Lakeview would have limited resources for some of the elective classes that help students develop career skills.

Minneota’s four-year graduation rate in 2018 was also higher than the state rate, at 95.2%. The2018 rate was holding fairly steady from 2017, when it was 95.7%. Minneota has had graduation rates above 95% since 2015, Minnesota Report Card data said.

In Tracy, the four-year graduation rate was 94% in 2018. That was up from 88.1% in 2016.

Tracy Superintendent Chad Anderson said Wednesday that he hadn’t had a chance to go through the 2018 data, but he knew Tracy’s graduation rate would likely be in the nineties.

The Tracy district has worked to support students academically, and make sure afterschool programs and other opportunities to get help are available, Anderson said.

“All of our teachers, from pre-kindergarten all the way through high school, care a lot about our kids,” he said.