Austin Public Schools’ graduation rate for 2014 was 73.7 percent, up from 2013, but it was still below the 81.2 percent state average.

The Minnesota Department of Education released high school graduation figures Tuesday that showed the state’s four-year graduation rate climbed above 81 percent, but there’s still a ways to go to meet a statewide goal of 90 percent by 2020. In 2014, the state’s rate was 81.2 percent, which was up from 79.8 percent in 2013. The rates differ by ethnic group, but officials said they increased in all categories.

In Austin, the overall district’s graduation rate jumped from 70.5 percent in 2013 to 73.7 percent in 2014.

Austin High School’s rate jumped from 76.2 percent from to 82 percent.

Though the district is below the state average, Austin Superintendent David Krenz said Austin Public Schools strives to give students what they need to be successful.

“We make sure that we’re providing every opportunity for our students to be successful, and in some cases if it takes a little longer, we want to make sure they get through,” Krenz said.

Compared to neighboring schools, Austin still has one of the lowest graduation rates in the area. Yet Krenz noted neighboring schools do not see the same diversity and poverty levels that Austin deals with.

“Poverty is the critical component,” Krenz said. “And if you look, Austin is significantly higher than the other districts in terms of our free-and-reduced/poverty rates. That’s a burden to overcome but we are working to do that.”

Krenz said the district has worked to put tools and programs in place to help overcome the challenges the district faces. At the Austin Public Schools Board strategic planning meeting, the board put diversity on both the list of advantages and list of challenges the district faces.

Statewide, black students continue to trail the statewide average with 60 percent of those who begin high school graduating, which is up 3 percent from the year before and 10 percent since 2011. In Austin, 56.5 percent of black students graduated in 2014, up slightly from 56 percent in 2013, while special education students have the lowest graduation rate at 55.6 percent in 2014, up from 47.9 percent in 2013 and up from 40.4 percent in 2010.

“[These are] challenges, not things we can’t overcome,” Krenz said. “They’re things we know are there and we have to work hard to address them and work through them.”

The district has implemented programs such as Peer Power Partners to help students with special needs continue to do well in school both academically and socially. Krenz pointed out that although there are challenges, many students are doing well and the district hopes to help every student graduate.

“Our top students are doing tremendously well,” Krenz said. “And we’re working very hard for all of our students to help them overcome situations that are beyond their control, to help them achieve at a higher level, and that includes graduating.”

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.