Clay superintendent outlines $60M shortfall, urges consideration of 1-mill referendum to shore up pay and safety

Superintendent Brodsky told the Clay County School Board on Jan. 27 that Clay County Schools is at a "halftime" point financially and faces unusually severe pressures from recent state and federal actions. He said state funding projections, a surge in family empowerment vouchers and rising pension and health-care costs combined to produce a projected $60 million shortfall from the district's ideal budget.

Brodsky said the voucher program has grown rapidly since the 2023—24 legislative changes removed income caps and allowed public funds to follow students outside district schools. Quoting the state's own audit, he said the program's administration "was met with a myriad of accountability challenges" and that, locally, roughly $30 million is now leaving Clay public schools for private school vouchers.

To stabilize the district, Brodsky outlined three strategic pillars: decrease expenses, increase revenue and increase enrollment. He listed concrete expense steps already taken this fiscal year, including a 20% reduction in certain vendor contracts, district and school allocations, pausing nonessential travel and staffing adjustments. He stressed that 82% of the district's expenditures are personnel-related and that careful choices were made to minimize classroom impacts and to reassign or offer alternative positions rather than abrupt layoffs.

On revenue, Brodsky formally recommended the board consider placing a 1-mill referendum before voters to fund student safety and employee compensation. He noted that the district's 3% fund-balance minimum (about $11.52 million) is smaller than a single payroll cycle (roughly $13.6 million), limiting options for one-time compensatory draws from reserves. "If nothing else," he said, the fund-balance math helps explain why he is recommending a local revenue path.

Board members asked for further details on ballot language, long-term affordability and contingency plans if such a measure fails. Several trustees expressed support for exploring a referendum while urging clear community messaging and analysis of what would occur if the mill failed to pass. Brodsky provided a tentative timeline for drafting referendum language and public engagement, noting June as a likely deadline for county commission action to place language on a ballot.

What happens next: the superintendent said he will bring more detailed ballot language and fiscal modeling back to the board as the drafting and public-engagement process continues.