East Kentucky Times

There were 20,271 students enrolled in Hardin County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 4.9% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Boys made up 50.7% of the county student body, while the other 49.3% were girls.

Data also showed that white students made up 65.6% of the student body, the largest percentage in Hardin County schools, followed by 12.6% of Black students, 10.1% of multiracial students and 9.5% of Hispanic students.

Central Hardin High School had the highest enrollment among Hardin County’s 31 schools in the 2022-23 cycle, welcoming 2,050 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
Central Hardin High School	2,013	2,050	1.8%
North Hardin High School	1,821	1,839	1%
G. C. Burkhead Elementary School	942	939	-0.3%
Elizabethtown High School	843	885	5%
John Hardin High School	862	861	-0.1%
East Hardin Middle School	793	833	5%
College View Campus	832	818	-1.7%
James T. Alton Middle School	747	726	-2.9%
North Park Elementary School	778	725	-7.3%
Bluegrass Middle School	650	667	2.6%
North Middle School	676	658	-2.7%
Lincoln Trail Behavioral Health Systems	611	646	5.7%
Heartland Elementary School	679	637	-6.6%
Lincoln Trail Elementary School	611	625	2.3%
Woodland Elementary School	599	612	2.2%
New Highland Elementary School	544	587	7.9%
Talton K. Stone Middle School	598	583	-2.6%
Rineyville Elementary School	613	581	-5.5%
Meadow View Elementary School	555	573	3.2%
Vine Grove Elementary School	564	571	1.2%
West Hardin Middle School	609	566	-7.6%
Morningside Elementary School	495	507	2.4%
Lakewood Elementary School	475	504	6.1%
Radcliff Elementary School	437	495	13.3%
Creekside Elementary School	456	489	7.2%
Cecilia Valley Elementary School	431	478	10.9%
Helmwood Heights Elementary School	425	450	5.9%
Panther Academy	278	248	-12.1%
Valley View Education Center	91	80	-13.8%
Hardin County Day Treatment Center	29	28	-3.6%
Spectrum Care Academy	16	10	-60%