The Kentucky Department of Education released its 2023-2024 school report card data last week, which gauges each school district and individual school within the state based on several criteria, such as test scores and student readiness. Based on this year’s data, area schools look to be mostly performing well.
The results were accompanied with a press release from KDE, in which Kentucky Education Commissioner Robbie Fletcher said that there were several areas “to be proud of,” but that there were “some areas of concern and some areas where we as a Commonwealth have plateaued.”
Locally, however, several school districts throughout Whitley County received positive results.
Under the current ratings system, schools receive a color-coded rating with blue being the highest rating followed by green, yellow, orange and red, which is the lowest rating.
Based on this year’s data, Corbin Independent School was among only two K-12 districts in the entire state to have all schools achieve a blue rating, with the school district itself being ranked as #2 in the state for a second consecutive year. The one lone difference between this year and last, is that Corbin Primary School received a green rating last year.
Corbin High School Ranked 8th out of 228 high schools in the state and Corbin Middle School ranked 8th out of 319 middle schools.
Corbin Superintendent David Cox provided the News Journal with a comment regarding the ratings, saying: “We recognize and thank our educational community for helping support Corbin Independent Schools in every possible way. This level of accomplishment is due to a lot of hard work by everyone involved. Corbin has a long tradition of expecting excellence in all areas and certainly the safety and academic achievement of our students is at the top of that list.”
The Whitley County School District saw many of the schools within their district hold strong to last year’s ratings, though there were some that improved or dropped in rating.
Boston Elementary School, Pleasant View Elementary School and Whitley East Elementary School are the only schools within the district to receive a blue rating, with all but the latter improving from a green rating last year. Oak Grove Elementary School, Whitley Central Intermediate School, Whitley Central Primary School and Whitley North Elementary School all saw minor slides in this year’s ratings.
Despite some of the downward changes, Whitley County retained its status as a high-performing district.
Whitley County Superintendent John Siler commended the district’s students as well as its staff in a statement to the News Journal, saying: “These accomplishments are a testament to the dedication and hard work of our students, educators, staff, and the community. We look forward to building on this momentum in the coming years.”
Williamsburg Independent saw some of the most notable changes of the three districts within the county, with two of the three schools in the district trending downward this year.
Williamsburg Independent Elementary School dropped from a blue rating last year to a yellow rating, with Williamsburg Independent High School falling from green to yellow. Williamsburg Middle School remained the same.
Williamsburg Superintendent Tabetha Housekeeper also provided the News Journal with a statement, saying: “This achievement is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our entire school community—our students, teachers, staff, and families. Together, we have created an environment that fosters a spirit of resilience. We are on the road to academic excellence, social-emotional well-being, and a strong sense of community. We are thrilled to see the significant progress our school has made toward creating vibrant learning opportunities for all types of learners.”
All the schools within the county that received a score and their rating are as follows:
Whitley County
Boston Elementary School – Blue
Oak Grove Elementary School – Yellow
Pleasant View Elementary School – Blue
Whitley East Elementary School – Blue
Whitley North Elementary School – Yellow
Whitley Central Primary School – Green
Whitley Central Intermediate School – Green
Whitley County Middle School – Green
Whitley County High School – Green
Williamsburg
Williamsburg Elementary School – Yellow
Williamsburg Middle School – Yellow
Williamsburg High School – Yellow
Corbin
Corbin Primary School – Blue
Corbin Elementary School – Blue
Corbin Middle School – Blue
Corbin High School – Blue
