East Kentucky Times

There were 1,257 students enrolled in Wolfe County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 1.9% less than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Boys made up 52.4% of the county student body, while the other 47.6% were girls.

Data also showed that white students made up 97.9% of the student body, the largest percentage in Wolfe County schools, followed by 1% of Black students, 0.6% of multiracial students and 0.2% of Hispanic students.

Wolfe County High School had the highest enrollment among Wolfe County’s seven schools in the 2022-23 cycle, welcoming 396 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
Wolfe County High School	394	396	0.5%
Campton Elementary School	373	371	-0.5%
Wolfe County Middle School	178	178	0%
Rogers Elementary School	132	130	-1.5%
Red River Valley Elementary School	118	123	4.2%
Success Academy	25	33	32%
Dessie Scott School	29	26	-11.5%