Vicky Kidwell, president of the Clay County Classroom Educators Association (CCEA), told the board Jan. 9 that a recent climate survey of district educators identified inadequate salary and excessive workload as the top two stressors affecting job satisfaction.

Kidwell said respondents cited "inadequate salary" most often and linked compensation concerns to overwork, paperwork and shrinking planning time. "They felt that such a demanding professional responsibility should be better compensated," Kidwell said, summarizing survey findings.

Board members responded throughout the meeting with multiple remarks about teacher pay and retention. Several board members and Superintendent Broski listed recent district actions they said were intended to help educators, including a $2 million contribution toward health benefits and targeted salary increases over the prior two years. A board member said the district increased the top retirement pay band from roughly $50,500 to about $57,000 over two years; the remark was presented as a board account of recent compensation changes.

During comments about governance and training, the board agreed by consensus to pursue a seven‑hour reinstatement training so the board could regain master-board certification after the addition of a new member. Broski said the training would require approval of funding and signatures; the board asked him to look into scheduling and costs.

Superintendent Broski and other speakers also described an extensive, ongoing district policy review. Broski said the district is working through a large set of policy revisions (he described receiving voluminous materials) and will provide a side‑by‑side summary of district changes versus original policy language for board review before workshops. The district referenced Neola, the vendor commonly used for policy templates, as part of the revision work.

No formal board action to change pay or adopt new salary schedules was recorded at the meeting; the only formal board consensus recorded was to investigate and schedule the board reinstatement training.