Jackson Purchase News

There were 3,416 students enrolled in Paducah Independent School District in the 2023-24 school year, 1.4% more than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed in the 2023-24 school year, 51.6% of them were boys, and 48.4% were girls.

The most represented ethnicity among Paducah Independent School District students was white, accounting for 39.5% of the student population.

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

Among those schools, Paducah Tilghman High School recorded the highest enrollment of 926 students in the 2023-24 school year.

Despite ongoing efforts to address educational disparities, Kentucky's achievement gaps persist. In the 2024 eighth-grade reading assessments, for example, Black students scored 24 points lower than their white peers, while Hispanic students were 19 points behind. In mathematics, the gaps were even more pronounced: Black students lagged by 29 points and Hispanic students by 19 points compared to white students. These disparities have remained relatively unchanged since 2000, highlighting the need for continued focus on equity in education.

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 2022-23	Total Enrollment in 2023-24	% change
Paducah Tilghman High School	936	926	-1.1%
Paducah Middle School	717	706	-1.5%
Clark Elementary School	649	643	-0.9%
Morgan Elementary School	415	423	1.9%
McNabb Elementary School	360	413	14.7%
Paducah Head Start Preschool	276	293	6.2%
Choices Educational Center	128	152	18.8%