East Pennyroyal News

The only school district in McCreary County suffered declining enrollment in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

There were 2,939 students in McCreary County School District, 1.4% lower than the year before.

Enrollment in McCreary County fell short of the state's trend of increasing enrollment.

Of all the students welcomed in the 2022-23 school year, 52.2% of them were boys, and 47.8% were girls.

Data also showed that most of the students were white, representing 96.4% of McCreary County School District's total enrollment.

McCreary County School District has a main office in Stearns and is the only school district within McCreary County.

According to a 2023 report from the Kentucky Research Commission, the state experienced a significant increase in teacher turnover rates, rising to 10.9% in 2023 from a nine-year average of 8.9%. This trend was more prominent in schools with more low-income and minority students.

The number of available teaching positions in Kentucky schools surged by 260% between 2019 and 2023. This often leads to larger class sizes, combining programs, and retaining staff despite potential negative impacts on teacher working conditions.

School	Total Enrollment in 2022-23	Total Enrollment in 2021-22	Total % Change
Pine Knot Intermediate School	902	900	0.2%
McCreary Central High School	796	872	-8.7%
McCreary County Middle School	651	602	8.1%
Whitley City Elementary School	605	632	-4.3%