Kentucky's public school system is directed by state statutes and regulations.
*all numbers are for the 2018-19 school year unless otherwise noted
Number of school districts
173 ( female superintendents; male; minority) Two districts did not report superintendents during the 2018 data collection.
Number of public schools
(Does not include dependent districts Ft. Campbell and Ft. Knox, alternative programs or the Kentucky School for the Deaf and Kentucky School for the Blind)
1,466
Preschool – 38
Elementary (preschool-6th grade) – 655
Elementary/middle (any combination of P-6 and 6-8) – 84
Middle (6-8) – 203
Middle/high (any combination of 6-8 and 9-12) – 170
High (9-12) – 257
P-12 (any combination of P-6 and 6-8 and 9-12) – 59
Career and Technical Schools
Locally operated – 42
State operated – 53
Number of public school teachers (actual headcount)
42,024 (White – 95.3%; Minority – 4.8%; Male - 22.4%; Female – 77.6%)
Number of public school students
648,369
Ethnicity of public school students
White – 76.8%
African American – 10.5%
Hispanic – 6.8%
Asian – 1.8%
Hawaiian/Pacific Islander – 0.1%
Native American – 0.1%
Two or More Races – 3.9%
Length of school year
185 days (includes minimum 170 instructional days (1,062 hours), four professional development days, four holidays, two planning days)
Number of employed certified staff, minus teachers
8,824
Average teacher salary
$53,923
Average years teaching experience
11 years, 9.2 months
Number of teachers certified by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards
3,794
Kentucky's rank in the number of new nationally certified teachers
4th nationwide
Number of teacher interns
0 - no funding for KTIP so there are no interns
Number of principal interns
0 - no funding so there are no interns
Total number who hold Kentucky-issued certifications
212,228
Number of classified staff
46,455
Average per-pupil current expense spending
13,887
Total SEEK budget
$3,066,588,600 (2018-2019)
Total P-12 state education budget
$5,081,677,452 - (includes general, federal and restricted fund sources)
Total P-12 federal education revenue
$948,493,100
Total P-12 local education revenue
$2,775,189,057 (2017-2018)
Number of local school board seats
867 (172 districts have five-member boards; Jefferson County has seven because of its size.)
Gender breakdown of local school board members
Male - 447 Female - 394; 26 either did not indicate gender or were elected/appointed since last demographic survey in 2017
Racial breakdown of local school board members
White – 6749, Non-White – 909
Number of schools served by councils
1129
Number of alternative SBDM models
23
Parents serving on SBDM councils
2473
Number of volunteer hours
This data is not collected at the state level, it is self-reported at the school level on the School Report Card.
State dropout rate
1.3%
State retention rate
(2017-2018) 1.3% grades 4-12 (contact Windy Newton)
State attendance rate
(2017-2018) - 94.2 (contact Jessica Carlton)
State graduation rate
89.7%
(Four-year adjusted cohort rate)
Successful Transition Rate
Student Transitions - (16-17)
College 54.7%
Technical Training 5%
Military 3%
Working 23.4%
Other 13.8%
Pre-kindergarten (preschool) children enrolled in state-funded programs
21,358 (source: KDE Dec 1, 2018 Count, eligible 3s and 4s)
Number of students enrolled in Kentucky Head Start programs
13,875 (source: KY Center for Statistics)
Pre-kindergarten state budget
$84,481,100 (source: KDE 2018-19)
Types of kindergarten programs offered by school districts
Full day - 176
Half day - 5
Both – 4
Percent of individuals eligible for free or reduced-price meals in public schools (includes K-12 students reported to KDE as of the last day of enrollment in the school year)
60.80%
Number of exceptional children ages 3-5
2017-2018: 18,070
2018-2019:18,232
Number of exceptional children ages 6-21
2017-2018: 86, 200
2018-2019: 87,927
Number of students qualifying for Gifted & Talented services
From School Report Card 2017-2018
Primary Talent Pool (K-3): 26,729
Formal ID (4-12): 71,305
Gifted & Talented state budget
$6.2 each Fiscal Year and $12.4 for the Biennium
Number of Advanced Placement (AP) exams
50,506
Low-Income students taking Advanced Placement (AP) exams
8,341
AP exams given
51,637
Number of AP exams with scores of 3 or higher
16,048
Number of public schools operating federal Title I programs
916
Number of public schools operating schoolwide Title I programs (those that serve all students in a school)
903
Number of Title I targeted assistance programs
13
Title I, Part A funding
$218,073,653
Title III funding for immigrant services
$153,056 was reserved for immigrant allocations for districts who experienced a significant increase and $79,709 was awarded to the three districts who qualified for funding.
Districts receiving Title III immigrant funding
3
Students receiving immigrant services
8,089
Districts receiving Title III EL funding
34 standalone districts and 11 consortium programs that include 37 districts
Students receiving EL services
28,211
Title III funding for English learners-EL services
$3,482,050
Languages, other than English, spoken at home by EL students
Total – 143
Spanish - 18,304
Arabic - 1,486
Somali - 942
Swahili - 1,381
Nepali - 695
Japanese - 439
Others - 8506
Students to modern high-performance computers ratio
96:1 (point nine six to one)
Percentage of networked schools with high-speed fiber internet access, email and direct dial-in/out telephone access
100%
Students with internet access at home
83%-90%
Amount of federal e-Rate funding available to Kentucky school districts for technology and statewide fiber internet services
$35.2 million [FY 17]
Student Technology Leadership Program (STLP) participation
Greater than 55,000 students in 751 schools representing 139 districts
Imagine Academy student professional certifications for technology-related areas
This is a new baseline year for a brand new Computer Science and IT Academy - no data this year
Digital citizenship
96% of districts report having a strategic plan for teaching digital citizenship to students
Online or blended courses for expanded learning opportunities and experiences
90% of school districts offer online or blended course learning opportunities to students. Over 30,000 different students took 56K online or virtual courses.
Number of family resource/youth services centers (FRYSC)
856
Number of schools served by FRYSCs
approximately 1200
Number of students served by FRYSCs
637,640 (this is the total enrollment of schools served by FRYSC, including preschool and Head Start students located in school served by FRYSC)
Number of students served in extended school services programs during the school year
(OCIS/Windy Newton)
Funds allocated for ESS programs
Number of Community Education directors
93
Number of school districts served by Community Education programs
132
Number of school buses
9,854 (as of 5/22/2019)
Number of licensed school bus drivers
9,773 (as of 5/20/2019)
Number of Homeschools This data is not collected by KDE
Number of homeschooled students approximately 19,634
Number of school districts served by Community Education programs