Summary:
Hardin County CUSD 1 has three schools serving students from prekindergarten through grade 12, with 498 students across elementary, junior high and high school. The strongest reported result is elementary ELA, while math is weaker at both schools with all-grades IAR results. The most urgent concern is Hardin County High School, where achievement is below state results in reported comparisons and chronic absenteeism is high.
Hardin County Elementary stands out in ELA: 70% of students were proficient in 2025–2026, compared with 55% at Hardin County Junior High and 56% statewide. Elementary also led in math, at 35%, but remained below the 40% state result; Junior High scored 18%. High School’s grade 10 PreACT Secure ELA result was 29%, versus 54% statewide, and its grade 11 ACT science result was 33%, versus 48%. High School’s chronic absenteeism was 51%, compared with 24% statewide. Because the schools serve different grades and use different assessments, their results do not form a single direct ranking.
Recent trends favor Elementary and Junior High in SchoolDigger’s statewide percentile rankings: from 2023–2024 to 2025–2026, Elementary rose from 39 to 71 and Junior High from 7 to 34, while High School moved from 27 to 23. Test trends vary by subject: Elementary ELA rose 18 percentage points from the prior year, but math fell 5; Junior High ELA rose 14 points, while its math result was nearly unchanged. For context, 2024–2025 student-teacher ratios were 10.5 at Elementary, 11.8 at Junior High and 14.0 at High School. Each school reported free/reduced lunch eligible students for 2024–2025: 67% at Elementary, 55% at Junior High and 53% at High School; these are background figures, not explanations for achievement.
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