Members of the Mathews County Board of Supervisors and School Board broke bread Tuesday night, sitting down afterwards to hold a joint discussion about the school division’s proposed 2019-2020 budget.

Meeting in the Thomas Hunter Middle School library, the two boards reviewed the draft document, which calls for the county to contribute $8.76 million to the schools, an increase of roughly $1.6 million from the current allocation.

Supervisor Charles Ingram said that the county board has yet to hold its own work session on the overall budget and he would need to have one “before I commit myself.”

“We’re gonna do the best we can,” said supervisor Pepper Love, speaking about the school board’s request, which is driven by a 13 percent pay hike for teachers and other school employees. At the same time, Love expressed concern about the compensation for other county employees. “I’m just trying to be fair for everybody,” he said.

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