East Pennyroyal News

There were 4,375 students enrolled in Taylor County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 3.6% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Boys made up 52.5% of the county student body, while the other 47.5% were girls.

Data also showed that white students made up 81.9% of the student body, the largest percentage in Taylor County schools, followed by 7.4% of multiracial students, 5.6% of Hispanic students and 4% of Black students.

Taylor County High School had the highest enrollment among Taylor County’s nine schools in the 2022-23 cycle, welcoming 850 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
Taylor County High School	856	850	-0.7%
Taylor County Primary Center	739	768	3.9%
Campbellsville Elementary School	662	724	9.4%
Taylor County Middle School	680	654	-4%
Taylor County Elementary School	602	597	-0.8%
Campbellsville High School	333	351	5.4%
Campbellsville Middle School	337	328	-2.7%
Lakeview Academy	89	78	-14.1%
Campbellsville Eagle Academy	19	25	31.6%