SE Kentucky News

There were 3,416 students enrolled in Clay County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 1.3% less than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Boys made up 50.8% of the county student body, while the other 49.2% were girls.

Data also showed that white students made up 96.4% of the student body, the largest percentage in Clay County schools, followed by 1.3% of Hispanic students, 1.2% of Black students and 0.7% of multiracial students.

Clay County High School had the highest enrollment among Clay County’s 10 schools in the 2022-23 cycle, welcoming 818 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
Clay County High School	836	818	-2.2%
Clay County Middle School	489	471	-3.8%
Manchester Elementary School	443	438	-1.1%
Paces Creek Elementary School	329	345	4.9%
Burning Springs Elementary School	346	337	-2.7%
Hacker Elementary School	292	288	-1.4%
Goose Rock Elementary School	251	246	-2%
Horse Creek Learning Center	189	191	1.1%
Big Creek Elementary School	170	151	-12.6%
Oneida Elementary School	116	131	12.9%