Sunday, January 24, 2016
Somali students stand in front of their school following a group meeting of Somali students on May 28 at Tech High School. Students helped craft solutions to issues raised in a protest earlier in the 2014-15 school year. (Photo: Dave Schwarz, [email protected])
Editor’s note: The St. Cloud Times is working to enlighten the debate about refugees and immigrants who make their homes in Central Minnesota. We are asking readers to submit their questions and we will answer them in a series of stories over the next several months.
Question: How many Somali students are enrolled in St. Cloud-area school districts?
Answer: We took a look at data submitted annually by school districts to the Minnesota Department of Education. The department tracks the primary languages spoken in students' homes.
We looked at numbers of students in the three St. Cloud-area school districts whose primary home language was Somali. We found the St. Cloud school district has seen an increase in the number of Somali-speaking students, while neighboring school districts have far lower numbers.
According to the data for the 2014-15 school year, the St. Cloud school district had 1,622 students whose primary language spoken at home is Somali, the second highest of any district in Minnesota. The Minneapolis school district had the highest number, 3,421, while St. Paul followed St. Cloud with 1,216.
Other area districts had far fewer students whose primary home language is Somali: 10 in Sauk Rapids-Rice, and none in Sartell-St. Stephen.
Among charter schools, the Math and Science Academy of St. Cloud reported 114 students whose primary language at home was Somali, while Stride Academy had 44.
We asked the three area school districts to provide us updated numbers for the current school year. St. Cloud reported having 2,080 students whose primary home language is Somali, roughly 20 percent of its total student enrollment. Sauk Rapids-Rice reported 21 students who identified as Somali, while Sartell reported two.
One caveat to keep in mind: Amy Trombley, spokeswoman for the Sartell-St. Stephen district, said students self-report their primary home language when they enroll in the district. Some of the students whose home language is Somali might have been attending school for years and be fluent in English.
To submit a question to Immigration Fact Check, send an email to [email protected] or leave a message on the tip line at 320-202-5411. The answers will appear in a series of stories over the next several months.
Follow Kirsti Marohn on Twitter, Facebook or contact her by phone at 320-255-8746.