SW Bluegrass News

There were 3,645 students enrolled in Lincoln County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 3% less 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 89.1% of the student body, the largest percentage in Lincoln County schools, followed by 4.5% of Hispanic students, 4% of multiracial students and 1.6% of Black students.

Lincoln County High School had the highest enrollment among Lincoln County’s seven schools in the 2022-23 cycle, welcoming 1,000 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
Lincoln County High School	1,043	1,000	-4.3%
Lincoln County Middle School	836	793	-5.4%
Stanford Elementary School	679	617	-10%
Hustonville Elementary School	454	478	5.3%
Crab Orchard Elementary School	322	323	0.3%
Highland Elementary School	209	227	8.6%
Waynesburg Elementary School	212	207	-2.4%