Original Research by School Decision on Step
STEP is a special education school in Forest Lake, Minnesota, that serves only students in twelfth grade. It operates under the Forest Lake Public School District, and its small enrollment is composed entirely of seniors. The school does not serve tenth or eleventh graders, despite its listed grade band; all enrolled students are in their final year of high school. This is not a comprehensive high school. It is a specialized setting for students who have individualized education programs (IEPs) and need a distinct academic and support environment to finish high school.
Because STEP is a special education school, standard accountability measures do not apply in the same way they do for a traditional school. State testing data is not reported for this school. That is not unusual for a special education program of this nature, and the absence of proficiency or growth results does not carry the same meaning it would for a general-education school. Similarly, no graduation rate is published for this school, and we looked for chronic absenteeism data but found none. A parent or guardian considering STEP should understand that this is a placement-based program, not a school of choice in the open-enrollment sense, and that the district makes the referral based on a student’s IEP team decision.
The student body is very small, with fewer than fifty students enrolled, all of whom are twelfth graders. Just under half of the students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a common measure of economic need. Racially, the student population is predominantly white, with smaller numbers of students who are two or more races or Hispanic, and a very small number of Black students. Data on the share of students with IEPs and English learners was not available, though given the school’s mission it is reasonable to assume that all students have IEPs. A parent might want to confirm the exact classification and support services available with the district or school directly.
STEP is housed at an address in central Forest Lake, a growing suburban city about a half-hour northeast of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. The city is car-oriented, with residential neighborhoods, lakefront recreation, and commercial corridors along the highway. The community has expanded significantly in recent decades, largely through annexation of surrounding township land. Housing in Forest Lake is priced slightly above the state benchmark, with home values rising moderately and rents following a similar trend. The mortgage costs are higher than the national median, and rents are somewhat above the national rent-to-income benchmark, reflecting the broader Twin Cities metro pressure.
The Forest Lake district itself has been under financial strain. Voters rejected operating levy referendums in both 2022 and 2023, which led to a multi-million-dollar budget reduction plan for the 2024-2025 school year. That plan included closing an elementary school, redrawing attendance boundaries for all elementary schools, and cutting staff across the district. The district is planning another referendum attempt in 2025. These district-level financial constraints have not directly affected STEP’s existence or operation, but they are part of the context any family in the district should be aware of, as they signal ongoing pressure on programs, staffing, and resources.
For a family whose child has an IEP and is on a trajectory toward graduation in a specialized setting, STEP represents a dedicated, small-school environment focused exclusively on seniors. The school does not offer the kind of academic data or program listings that a comprehensive high school would, and it does not participate in the usual countywide comparisons for proficiency, graduation, or attendance. That is by design. The relevant question for a parent is not whether STEP ranks well against other schools, but whether the district’s IEP team has identified it as the appropriate placement for their child’s educational plan. Anyone considering this school should be working directly with the district’s special education department to understand the program’s curriculum, transition services, and how it supports students toward earning a diploma.
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