Paula Coles, Florida School Boards Association, recognized the School Board of Clay County and Superintendent Broskie for completing Master Board Training and achieving the status of Certified Board.  The superintendent and board participated in a skills-based curriculum requiring 20 hours of training focused on developing leadership skills and enhancing a leadership team's ability to work effectively as a governance team to positively impact student achievement.

Laura Fogarty, Director of Climate and Culture, Patricia Hunter, Military Liaison, and Terry Wanamaker, NAS Jax Liaison, recognized six (6) schools for achieving the designation by the Florida Department of Education as a 2023 Purple Star School of Distinction.  This designation recognizes schools that support the unique needs of military families through the implementation of activities.  Each school maintains the awarded designation for a period of three years.  Schools being recognized are:

• Discovery Oaks Elementary
• Doctors Inlet Elementary
• Oakleaf High
• Plantation Oaks Elementary
• Robert M. Paterson Elementary
• Tynes Elementary

Brenda Troutman, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, Ashley Gilhousen, Board Chair, and Victoria Kidwell, President of Clay County Education Association, participated in a ceremonial signing of the ratified Clay County Education Association contract.

Brenda Troutman, Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources, and Ashley Gilhousehn, Board Chair, participated in a ceremonial signing of the ratified Clay Educational Staff Professional Association contract.  Lonnie Roberts, President of Clay Education and Staff Professional Association was not present at the time of signing and will execute the ratification document at a later time.

Bryce Ellis, Assistant Superintendent of Operations, provided the attached visual presentation of the Education Facility Infrastructure Restricted Sales Tax (EdFIRST) timeline, financial revenue report, EdFIRST projects, and the Citizens Advisory Committee validation report.  Jeff Nelson, Citizen Advisory Council Committee Chair, validated the reported findings.

Public speakers:

• Bruce Reynolds 
• Chad Weeks 
• Judith Chapple
• Bruce Friedman 
• Tara Richardson
• Jack Randall 

There was no Human Resources Special Action C.

Mrs. Clark noted that item C17 includes planned funds for the replacement of portables.

Superintendent Broskie shared the attached visual presentation highlighting the following:

• Schools of the Month
• District and School Grades
• Planning for 2024-2025
• Controlled Open Enrollment for 2024-2025
• Upcoming Events

Mrs. Skipper noted the upcoming renewals of 7 Mindsets and Penda programs and expressed the desire to reassess what programs are working and discuss alternatives.  She would like to begin bargaining and executive sessions earlier in the year with the labor attorney present.  She would like to have multiple sessions re the upcoming allocations for the 2024-2025 school year and more time to evaluate those allocations.  She would also like to move forward with school board policies that address surveys and visitors.  She will be in attendance at the upcoming open forum on January 16th to obtain community input re the media policy and looks forward to input from media specialists, staff, administrators, students, and taxpayers.

Mrs. Clark expressed gratitude to the public speakers from the Solite Task Force for sharing their concerns, indicating that the State completed a thorough report re testing property for any proposed school construction and there is no evidence that the process was not completed correctly.  The district will have a review committee to provide information and confirm there are no issues.  She thanked Mrs. Hanson for tackling the new book policy and attempting to bring resolution, and she appreciated the support of the military community.

Mrs. Hanson was honored to meet with the secondary media specialists and appreciated their candor with her when they expressed concerns about frozen funds and the inability to purchase SAT prep books, indicating the media specialists are positive people with positive ideas to make change for students and will be an important resource in revising the current policy.  As upcoming board policies are revised, she would like to ensure policies are more easily identified and accessed by the public to include a meaningful table of contents with hyperlinks to applicable policy.  She expressed concern about the Scholastic Book Fair, noting that book descriptions do not always match content and content may not be appropriate.  The board discussed the possibility of an alternate publisher.  Mr. Broskie will explore and problem-solve potential solutions.

Mrs. Bolla attended recent judging for Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) and Future Farmers of America (FFA) events.  She expressed appreciation for Clay Education Foundation and their work with the Dolly Parton Imagination Library, noting that additional contributions are needed to continue providing books to the two current zip codes and add more zip codes to include additional recipients of books through this program.  She noted upcoming Tools4Schools events for teachers to obtain classroom supplies, with events being held at Garber Automotive in Green Cove as well as in Keystone.

Mrs. Gilhousen requested that the board consider changing the time of board workshops from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. to better accommodate her work schedule while maintaining consideration for staff.