Jackson Purchase News

There were nine American Indian or Alaska Native students enrolled in Paducah Independent School District schools in the 2022-23 school year, 80% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Data showed that Paducah Independent School District welcomed 3,369 students during the 2022-23 school year. Among them, American Indian or Alaska Native students comprised 0.3% of the student body to be one of the least represented ethnicities in the district.

Paducah Independent School District roughly covers seven schools within McCracken County and has a main office in Paducah.

Among the seven schools in Paducah Independent School District, Paducah Tilghman High School recorded the highest enrollment of American Indian or Alaska Native students in the 2022-23 school year, with a total of five 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.

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.

Year	Total District Enrollment	Total American Indian or Alaska Native Students	American Indian or Alaska Native %
2022-23	3,369	9	0.3%
2021-22	3,364	5	0.1%
2020-21	3,388	3	0.1%
2019-20	3,521	1	0%