Payneville Elementary School, Payneville KY

Original Research by School Decision on Payneville Elementary School

Payneville Elementary School sits in an unincorporated community in Meade County, Kentucky, in a setting that is deeply rural and car-dependent. The school serves children from kindergarten through sixth grade, and the community around it has a primarily residential and agricultural character with no traditional downtown. For a family considering this school, the most important context is that it is a small, local elementary school drawing from a sparsely populated area, and the data available on its academic performance provides a mixed picture.

Looking at the most recent state assessment results, Payneville Elementary shows a pattern that varies quite a bit by grade level and subject. In math, the share of students scoring at a proficient level or above ranged from a lower point in third grade to a stronger point in fourth grade, with fifth and sixth grade results landing in between. In reading and language arts, the pattern is similar; fourth grade stands out as the strongest grade, while fifth grade shows a weaker result. Across the board, the numbers suggest that academic performance is uneven. Some grade levels and subjects show a majority of students meeting the state’s proficiency benchmark, while others show fewer than half doing so. A parent considering this school would likely want to look into this further with the school to understand how instruction and support are tailored across grade levels.

The school’s student body is small and racially homogenous, with the vast majority of students identifying as white. A substantial share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, which is a common measure of economic need. A parent may want to ask what specific supports are in place for students from lower-income households, such as access to school meals, academic intervention programs, or community partnerships. Data on students with disabilities and English learners was not available in the reporting, so a parent with a child in either of those groups should inquire directly with the school about the services and staffing available.

Because Payneville Elementary serves only kindergarten through sixth grade, there is no graduation rate to report. State testing data exists for the grades that are tested, and those results are what is described above. The comparison tool that would place this school’s proficiency among other districts in Meade County did not produce a usable result because the county has too few districts to make a meaningful comparison. That means the reader has no local benchmark from this report beyond the raw proficiency numbers.

The surrounding housing market in the ZIP code is relatively affordable compared to national averages, and home values have been rising. The community is very quiet and lacks the kind of commercial or civic infrastructure families might find in a larger town. There are no major employers noted in Payneville itself, and the nearest larger town, Brandenburg, is a short drive west. The Meade County school district did not have any recent, publicly reported changes or new initiatives that could be confirmed, so the district-level context is essentially stable but thin.

In sum, Payneville Elementary is a small rural school with a mixed academic profile. It has strengths at certain grade levels, particularly in fourth grade math and reading, but also has grade levels where proficiency rates are lower. The setting is quiet and car-dependent, and the student body is economically diverse within a predominantly white community. A family that values a small, local elementary school in a rural area would find this a plausible fit, but they should seek more detail on how the school addresses the variation in achievement across grades and what academic and enrichment offerings are available, especially given that middle school will follow after sixth grade.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 338%

School 38% · District 56% · ▼ 18 pts below district

▼ 5 pts below state median

Grade 460%

School 60% · District 51% · ▲ 9 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median

Grade 550%

School 50% · District 46% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 8 pts above state median

Grade 657%

School 57% · District 56% · ▲ 1 pts above district

▲ 15 pts above state median

English language arts

Grade 344%

School 44% · District 55% · ▼ 11 pts below district

▼ 3 pts below state median

Grade 463%

School 63% · District 55% · ▲ 8 pts above district

▲ 13 pts above state median

Grade 534%

School 34% · District 53% · ▼ 19 pts below district

▼ 17 pts below state median

Grade 657%

School 57% · District 65% · ▼ 8 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median

Science

Grade 443%

School 43% · District 40% · ▲ 3 pts above district

▲ 5 pts above state median

Social studies

Grade 538%

School 38% · District 38%

even with state median

This schoolMeade County, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 3Lower-income33%Higher-income67%34 pp gap

Grade 4Lower-income47%Higher-income81%34 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income35%Higher-income33%2 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income39%Higher-income76%37 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 4Lower-income47%Higher-income75%28 pp gap

Grade 5Lower-income53%Higher-income47%6 pp gap

Grade 6Lower-income39%Higher-income76%37 pp gap