Campbell County Schools

Campbell County Schools is a 12-school district in rural East Tennessee serving roughly 5,100 students across eight elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools, but it ranks in the 7th percentile statewide (131 out of 141 districts) with a 0-star rating — a sign of significant academic challenges. That headline number obscures a more varied picture, though. The clear standout is White Oak Elementary School, the district's only 4-star school, which jumped from the 39th to the 75th percentile in a single year and now posts proficiency rates near 50% in math, ELA, and science, far above district averages. Jacksboro Elementary School and Jacksboro Middle School also earn 3 stars and perform near state averages while spending the least per student in the district, making them efficiency bright spots.

At the high school level, the smaller Jellico High School clearly outperforms Campbell County Comprehensive High School on TNReady tests, averaging 33.4% proficiency across seven subjects versus 24.5% for the larger school, and it graduates students at a 95.2% rate, above both the district and state. Still, both high schools graduate students above the state average, suggesting the system supports credit attainment even when test proficiency lags. The darker side of the data is chronic absenteeism: ten of twelve schools exceed the state's 18.3% rate, and Lafollette Middle School tops the district at 42.9% while also posting the district's lowest middle-school proficiency scores.

Another troubling pattern is that early-grade strength fades. Valley View, White Oak, and Elk Valley Elementary School all show strong 3rd-grade ELA results that collapse by 5th or 7th grade, meaning early literacy gains are not being sustained. Meanwhile, spending does not predict outcomes — the two Jacksboro schools spend the least yet succeed, while Wynn Habersham Elementary spends $14,502 per student and still earns just 1 star. For parents, the takeaways are clear: White Oak and the Jacksboro schools are the district's strongest options, Jellico High is the better high school academically, and chronic absenteeism and middle-school decline are the district's most urgent problems.