>>JENNIFER WAUGH: THE NEW SCHOOL YEAR STARTS NEXT MONTH. BELIEVE IT OR NOT, PLAY. THE
SUMMERS HAS FLOWN BY, BUT, YOU
KNOW, THOUSANDS OF TEACHING
POSITIONS ACROSS THE STATE ARE
UNFILLED. SO ACCORDING TO
NUMBERS PUBLISHED EARLIER THIS
MONTH BY THE FLORIDA EDUCATION
ASSOCIATION, MORE THAN 400,000
STUDENTS MAY START THEIR NEW
SCHOOL YEAR WITHOUT A
FULL-TIME CERTIFIED TEACHER.
CLAY COUNTY SCHOOL
SUPERINTENDENT DAVID BROSKIE
IS JOINING US VIA ZOOM THIS
MORNING. GOOD MORNING. THANKS
FOR BEING YOUR MORNING.
>>JENNIFER WAUGH: THINK THAT
ME AT ALWAYS LOVE TO HAVE YOU
ON THE SHOW WAS SO CLASSES
START ON AUGUST 10TH, AS WE
KNOW IN CLAY COUNTY, HOW MANY
TEACHER VACANCIES TO HAVE AT
THIS POINT?
>> WE CURRENTLY HAVE A 73
TEACHING VACANCIES, WHICH IS A
NUMBER THAT THAT VARIES
DEPENDING ON HOW MANY PEOPLE
RETIRE RESIGN AND HAVE A GOOD
PEOPLE. WE HIRED A GIVEN WEEK.
I HEAR YOU’RE CORRECT. THERE
IS A LABOR SHORTAGE OF ALL
TYPES ACROSS ALL INDUSTRIES IN
THE UNITED STATES AND
EDUCATION IS REALLY NO
DIFFERENT. THEIR ESTIMATING
9,000 TEACHING VACANCIES
ACROSS THE STATE 73 OF THEM
CURRENTLY IN CLAY COUNTY. SO
WE DO A LITTLE BETTER THAN
THAN THE AVERAGE BEAR WHEN IT
COMES TO THAT. BUT WE STILL WE
WANT PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE
CERTIFIED TEACHERS TO COME TO
OUR HIRING FAIR, WHICH
TOMORROW WITH THE 1946 AT
FLEMING ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL. SO
IF YOU’VE EVER GIVEN THOUGHTS
TO BEING A TEACHER, IT’S A
GREAT PROFESSION, EXTREMELY
NOBLE AND WORTHWHILE AND VERY
SATISFYING TO DO 32 YEARS AND
BIT OF IT.
>>JENNIFER WAUGH: AND WE
SHOULD NOTE ALSO THAT YOU HAVE
A TEACHER WHO BECAME FLORIDA’S
TEACHER OF THE YEAR, WHICH IS
A HUGE CONGRATULATIONS TO HER.
LET ME I’D LIKE TO TALK A
LITTLE BIT MORE ABOUT THE FAIR
IN JUST A MINUTE IN TERMS OF
THE DETAILS. BUT BUT WHILE I
HAVE YOU WANTED TO DIG A
LITTLE BIT MORE INTO THE
TEACHER VACANCY. 73, HOW DOES
THAT COMPARE OVER? LET’S SAY
THE LAST 2 OR 3 YEARS IS AT A
LOT MORE THAN YOU’RE USED
DEALING WITH.
>> IT’S MORE THAN WE WOULD
USUALLY USUALLY WILL START THE
YEAR 20 TO 30. AND YOU HAVE TO
REMEMBER, I IT’S ON A ROTATING
BASIS. SO A PERSON COULD
LITERALLY RESIGNED POSITION
JUST PRIOR TO SCHOOLS LIKE
DAYS. I EVEN AT PRINCIPAL HAVE
TEACHER RESIGNED LITERALLY A
DAY BEFORE STUDENTS CAME BACK.
SO WHEN YOU SEE THAT NUMBER,
IT’S THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT
THE POSITION HAS BEEN POSTED.
NOT NECESSARILY THE NUMBER
THAT REALLY MATTERS BECAUSE
PEOPLE DO RESIGN POSITIONS AT
ODD TIMES AND THEN WE PUSH
FORWARD FOR. AND I AM PROUD TO
SAY THAT BY LAST YEAR, THE
TOTAL NUMBER AT THE START OF
THE YEAR WAS SO SOMETHING
LOWER THAN 20, WHICH WOULD BE
HIGHLY UNUSUAL CONSIDERING WE
HAVE 2700 TEACHERS.
>> IT’S SO IF YOU DON’T FILL
THE VACANCY SEMI, WHAT WILL
HAPPEN THEN? I KNOW WE’VE GOT
A COUPLE OF WEEKS BEFORE THE
BEGINNING OF SCHOOL. I MEAN,
IS IT CONCEIVABLE THAT THERE
COULD BE SOME CLASSROOMS THAT
DON’T HAVE A CERTIFIED TEACHER
LEADING THEM?
>> YEAH, I MEAN, IT’S VERY,
VERY POSSIBLE. THAT COULD
HAPPEN. AND YOU HAVE A SETS TO
THE TRAIN SUBSTITUTE IN
CLASSROOM UNTIL A PERSON CAN,
IN FACT, FILL THE POSITION. SO
WE WORK EACH AND EVERY DAY AND
HR DEPARTMENT AS WELL AS OUR
LEADERS WORKED VERY HARD, VERY
DILIGENTLY LOOKING FOR
QUALIFIED PEOPLE TO COME IN
AND THE TEACHERS. SO THE
STARTING TEACHER SALARIES, 47
5, WHICH, YOU KNOW, WHEN I
STARTED TEACHING I WAS 18,300,
BACK IN THE DAY. SO WE’VE COME
A LONG WAY IN 47 5 IS A IS A
RESPECTABLE TO START ENTRY
LEVEL POSITION. IN A
PROFESSION LIKE TEACHING. SO
IF YOU THERE ARE THOUGHT ABOUT
BECOMING A TEACHER AND CAN
HAVE A BACHELOR’S DEGREE WILL
HAVE TRAINED CERTIFIED EXPERTS
AT FLEMING ISLAND HIGH SCHOOL.
46, WHO CAN HELP YOU OUT?
ANSWER THE QUESTION TO AS WELL
AS OFFER CONTRACT RIGHT THERE
ON THE SPOT. SO WE’RE LOOKING
FORWARD TO EVERYBODY COMES OUT
TO THE HIRING FAIR TOMORROW. 4
O’CLOCK FLEMING ISLAND HIGH
AND ARE YOU SPECIFICALLY THE
HIRING FAIR? JUST LOOKING FOR
TEACHERS OR WHAT ABOUT SUPPORT
STAFF? AND IS THERE ANYTHING
THAT THEY SHOULD BRING WITH
THEM?
>> TO THE FAIR? SO SO, YEAH,
WE’RE WE’RE LOOKING FOR ALL
POSITIONS. WE DO HAVE SOME BUS
DRIVING POSITIONS. SO SO
NURSING POSITIONS, HVAC TO
TECHNICIAN POSITIONS, ALL
KINDS OF SUPPORT POSITIONS
THAT.
>> TRULY, WHEN PEOPLE TALK
ABOUT THE LABOR SHORTAGE
ACROSS ALL INDUSTRIES.
EDUCATION IS NO DIFFERENT. I
THINK WE’RE REALLY SETS. CLAY
COUNTY PARTIES ARE RESILIENCY.
YOU KNOW, 2 YEARS OF THE
PANDEMIC SOME HIRING SHORTAGES
AND OTHER CHALLENGES AND WE
CAME THROUGH THAT A SCHOOL
DISTRICT, ONE OF ONLY 14 IN
THE STATE OF FLORIDA, TOP 10
RIGHT SCHOOL DISTRICT. ALL
RIGHT IN OUR STATE. AND SO WE
HAVE WE GOT A LOT OF PROUD
THINGS TO TO CERTAINLY SHARE
WITH OTHERS. WE WANT PEOPLE TO
JOIN OUR TEAM AND WHAT PEOPLE
CARE ABOUT STUDENTS AND REALLY
WANT TO POSITION WITHIN OUR
COUNTY.
>>JENNIFER WAUGH: MISTER
BRODSKY, THANK YOU FOR YOUR
TIME THIS MORNING. WE HAVE SO
MUCH TO TALK ABOUT OVER THE
NEXT WEEKEND AND SEVERAL
WEEKS. SO WE HOPE YOU’LL JOIN
US AGAIN AS WE DELVE INTO THE
BEGINNING OF THE NEW SCHOOL
YEAR. HAVE FANTASTIC DAY.
>> YOU TO TAKE CARE NOW. THANK
YOU.
>>JENNIFER WAUGH: AND AGAIN,
WE WANT TO REMIND OUR VIEWERS
THE CLAY COUNTY JOB FAIR IS
TOMORROW AT FLEMING ISLAND
HIGH SCHOOL. THEY’RE LOOKING
FOR MORE THAN JUST TEACHERS,
BUT ALL SORTS OF SUPPORT
STAFF. YOU HEARD HVAC AS WELL,
BUS DRIVERS. IT BEGINS AT 4
O’CLOCK TOMORROW AFTERNOON AND
RUNS UNTIL 6 O’CLOCK. IF YOU