High Schools in Paintsville Independent

Paintsville Independent has one high school, Paintsville High School, serving grades 7–12 with 318 students. Results are mixed: writing and graduation are strengths, while attendance and some academic results need attention. The most important concern is the sharp one-year drop in grade 10 mathematics and reading.

Writing is the school’s clearest academic strength: its average across reported grades was 58% proficient in 2025–26, compared with 48% statewide, a 10-point advantage. Grade 11 writing was especially strong at 65%, versus 47% statewide. In contrast, the school’s mathematics average was 36% versus 39% statewide, and reading was 42% versus 46%. Grade 10 reading was the largest shortfall, at 38% compared with 49% statewide; grade 10 mathematics was 30% versus 40%. Graduation was encouraging at 98%, compared with 94% statewide, while chronic absenteeism was higher: 32% versus 24%, a 9-point disadvantage. Since only one school is listed, there are no school-to-school comparisons.

Grade 10 results fell substantially from 2024–25 to 2025–26: mathematics dropped from 52% to 30%, while the state changed from 41% to 40%; reading fell from 63% to 38%, while the state rose from 47% to 49%. These are results for different tested cohorts. Other results moved in a better direction: grade 11 writing rose from 52% to 65%, and grade 8 mathematics held at 46%. SchoolDigger’s ranking declined from 35th of 290 schools, at the 88th percentile in 2023–24, to 112th of 262, at the 57th percentile in 2025–26. As context, 47% of students were free/reduced lunch eligible in 2024–25, and the student-teacher ratio that year was 12.2 to 1.