NW Kentucky News

There were 282 fifth grade students enrolled in Ohio County schools in the 2022-23 school year, 14.8% less than the previous year, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.

Wayland Alexander Elementary School welcomed most of the fifth grade students in the county, registering 77 students.

Within Ohio County schools, the highest student population was found in ninth grade, with the smallest class sizes seen in preschool.

Statewide, Ohio County ranked 45th in enrollment numbers. It was also ranked 45th 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 5th Grade Students Enrolled	% of Student Body	Total Enrollment
Wayland Alexander Elementary School	77	10.7%	719
Beaver Dam Elementary School	73	12.4%	591
Southern Elementary School	42	13.2%	319
Fordsville Elementary School	36	13.6%	265
Western Elementary School	35	11.9%	295
Horse Branch Elementary School	19	8.7%	219