East Kentucky Times

There were 131 eighth grade students enrolled in Magoffin County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 15.5% less than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Herald Whitaker Middle School welcomed most of the eighth grade students in the county, registering 128 students.

Within Magoffin County schools, the highest student population was found in 11th grade, with the smallest class sizes seen in second grade.

Statewide, Magoffin County ranked 88th in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 88th the year before.

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.

School	# of 8th Grade Students Enrolled	% of Student Body	Total Enrollment
Herald Whitaker Middle School	128	49.2%	260
Magoffin County High School	3	0.5%	661