SE Kentucky News

There were 2,324 students enrolled in Jackson County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 1.6% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Boys made up 53.2% of the county student body, while the other 46.8% were girls.

Data also showed that white students made up 97.1% of the student body, the largest percentage in Jackson County schools, followed by 1.5% of Hispanic students, 0.9% of multiracial students and 0.4% of Black students.

Jackson County High School had the highest enrollment among Jackson County’s eight schools in the 2022-23 cycle, welcoming 599 students.

Despite escaping some of the pandemic's educational disruptions, Kentucky's achievement gaps have remained an issue since 2019. In the eighth-grade reading assessments, for example, Hispanic students scored eight points lower than their white peers, and the gap reached 15 points in math. Black students fared even worse, falling more than 20 points behind and facing a failure rate nearly double that of their white counterparts.

Kentucky is in the midst of a statewide teacher shortage as turnover rates spiked to 10.9% in 2023, up from an 8.9% nine-year average. This issue is more prominent in schools with more low-income and minority students.

Data also shows that between 2019 and 2023, there was an increase of 260% in the number of available teaching posts in Kentucky schools. This often leads to larger class sizes, combining programs, and retaining staff despite potential negative impacts on teacher working conditions.

School Name	Total Enrollment in 2022	Total Enrollment in 2023	% change
Jackson County High School	593	599	1%
Tyner Elementary School	507	508	0.2%
Jackson County Middle School	489	447	-9.4%
McKee Elementary School	422	428	1.4%
Sand Gap Elementary School	279	284	1.8%
Jackson County Schools Learning Center	15	26	73.3%
Barnabus Home High School	22	26	18.2%
Barnabus Home Middle School	11	6	-83.3%