SE Kentucky News

There were 4,652 students enrolled in Bell County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 0% less than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Boys made up 51.3% of the county student body, while the other 48.7% were girls.

Data also showed that white students made up 92.7% of the student body, the largest percentage in Bell County schools, followed by 2.8% of multiracial students, 2.8% of Black students and 1.3% of Hispanic students.

Bell County High School had the highest enrollment among Bell County’s 13 schools in the 2022-23 cycle, welcoming 740 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
Bell County High School	783	740	-5.8%
Pineville Independent School	683	641	-6.6%
Yellow Creek School Center	668	636	-5%
Bell Central School Center	521	536	2.9%
Middlesboro Elementary School	439	496	13%
Middlesboro High School	379	375	-1.1%
Page School Center	345	320	-7.8%
Middlesboro Middle School	347	317	-9.5%
Lone Jack School Center	195	229	17.4%
Right Fork School Center	183	170	-7.6%
Frakes School Center	120	118	-1.7%
Middlesboro Alternative School	38	44	15.8%
Middlesboro Group Home School	22	30	36.4%