Whitesburg’s public schools score below 52% of Kentucky districts
The public schools Whitesburg’s kids attend, from kindergarten through graduation, trail 52% of Kentucky’s districts on state tests and graduation. Among towns with similar incomes, they sit near the middle.
What Whitesburg’s schools are like
High spending, middling results
Whitesburg spends $19,900 per student, 35% more than the state average, and each teacher has about 15 students, compared with 15 statewide. Results haven’t kept pace: the schools beat 48% of districts. Test scores ↓
The gap is biggest in math
Reading proficiency is 38%, 3 points below the state. Math is 19%, 11 points below the state. Test scores ↓
The elementary school is the weak link
One district takes students from West Whitesburg Elementary School all the way to Letcher County Central High School. The middle school earns the best grade on the path (B+); the elementary school earns the lowest (C). See the path ↓
This summary is written from the data on this page. Test scores are from 2020–21, a pandemic year, so treat small gaps with caution.
How Whitesburg compares
How the School Grade works
- Results, not inputs. Math and reading proficiency on Kentucky’s state tests against the state average, plus the four-year graduation rate. Spending and class size are shown but don’t count. Tests: 2020–21; graduation: class of 2020.
- The whole path. A town’s grade follows its kids through every district that serves it, weighted by students tested. Tests count 60%, graduation 40%.
- Graded within the state. Each state writes its own tests, so districts are compared with the rest of Kentucky only. A+ is the top 5%, A the next 10%, A− the next 10%, the B range the next 30%, the C range the next 30%, D the rest.
- What a grade can’t tell you. Test results track family income, so we also compare towns with similar incomes. Visit, ask other parents, and read neighbor reviews. It’s our own summary of U.S. Department of Education data, not an official rating.
Where will my kid go?
Pick a grade. These are the public schools that serve Whitesburg.
The district
Each district’s own page has its spending, test scores, enrollment and every school.
Below the state in reading
Every school in Whitesburg
5 schools. Grades are based on state tests and graduation. Any other ratings are made by neighbors.
Parents talk
What Whitesburg families are saying about school.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Colleges near Whitesburg
There’s no college in Whitesburg, but 9 are within 30 miles. The closest is Southeast Kentucky Community & Technical College in Cumberland, 14.2 miles away.
Straight-line distance from the center of Whitesburg. Degree-granting colleges with students on campus · College Scorecard · IPEDS.
School data: U.S. Department of Education (NCES, EDFacts, F-33 school finance). The School Grade is our own summary of state test results and graduation rates, graded within Kentucky. Stars are from neighbors.