Student leaders want St. Paul Public Schools to create classes that better reflect its diverse students.

The Student Engagement and Advancement Board, which advises the school board, said in presentation Tuesday evening that ethnic studies courses can boost attendance, grades and graduation rates.

They asked that the district make one such class mandatory for all high school students while making oppressed people more visible across the curriculum.

“We need to empower and uplift students in the SPPS district and not silence them,” junior Malachi Raymond said.

The students observed that a long-standing district policy calls for a multicultural curriculum but they’ve seen it only sporadically in their schools.

Miski Omar, a Central High senior, said some teachers have tried to make their classes more diverse. But she said teachers say there’s no room in Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate or College in the Schools classes to supplement the curriculum.

Speaking before the presentation, teachers union president Nick Faber told the school board that the material he faced as a student was overwhelmingly white and male. Faber, who is white, said his studies made him feel he would succeed.

“It’s no wonder that most of our students that don’t look like me don’t have that same feeling,” he said.

Just 21 percent of the district’s students are white.

Nou Yang, who leads a diverse after-school program, said an ethnic course she took as a high school senior changed her life.

“For the first time as a student, I felt like I belonged,” she said. “I felt like my story mattered and I learned about other narratives.”

The students Tuesday also called for a designated staff member to work on ethnic studies and for paid community experts to help teach the classes.

Superintendent Joe Gothard has made “effective and culturally relevant instruction” one of five areas of focus in his strategic plan. He said he’d work with the students on their recommendations.

“You’re asking for real change, and I think it’s probably long overdue,” he said.

Board member Marny Xiong said that as a student, she too advocated for ethnic studies in the St. Paul district.

“I’m disappointed. I’m sick and done waiting 12 years,” she said. “This is common sense. We need it now.”