East Louisville News

There were 7,505 students enrolled in Shelby County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 0.8% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Boys made up 52% of the county student body, while the other 48% were girls.

Data also showed that white students made up 59.8% of the student body, the largest percentage in Shelby County schools, followed by 26% of Hispanic students, 6.8% of multiracial students and 6.4% of Black students.

Martha Layne Collins High School had the highest enrollment among Shelby County’s 13 schools in the 2022-23 cycle, welcoming 1,266 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
Martha Layne Collins High School	1,291	1,266	-2%
Shelby County High School	1,041	1,052	1.1%
Marnel C. Moorman School	792	823	3.9%
Shelby County West Middle School	641	647	0.9%
Shelby County East Middle School	589	592	0.5%
Wright Elementary School	490	489	-0.2%
Painted Stone Elementary School	494	473	-4.4%
Southside Elementary School	484	464	-4.3%
Simpsonville Elementary School	470	461	-2%
Clear Creek Elementary School	450	459	2%
Heritage Elementary School	424	453	6.8%
Northside Early Childhood Center	232	256	10.3%
Ascension Academy	53	70	32.1%