Jackson Purchase News

There were 5,480 students enrolled in Calloway County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 5.5% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Boys made up 51% of the county student body, while the other 49% were girls.

Data also showed that white students made up 80% of the student body, the largest percentage in Calloway County schools, followed by 7.8% of Hispanic students, 6.3% of multiracial students and 4.1% of Black students.

Calloway County High School had the highest enrollment among Calloway County’s 12 schools in the 2022-23 cycle, welcoming 918 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
Calloway County High School	935	918	-1.9%
Calloway County Middle School	722	735	1.8%
Murray Middle School	692	684	-1.2%
North Calloway Elementary School	599	645	7.7%
Murray High School	501	581	16%
Murray Elementary School	568	571	0.5%
Southwest Calloway Elementary School	458	475	3.7%
East Calloway Elementary School	331	348	5.1%
Calloway County Preschool Center	221	220	-0.5%
Murray Preschool Head Start	135	139	3%
Calloway County Alternative Program	107	132	23.4%
Calloway County Day Treatment	31	32	3.2%