A packed crowd filled Thomas Hunter Middle School’s J. Murray Brooks Auditorium Tuesday night, primarily for two reasons—first, to express concerns over doing away with the position of transportation supervisor once that individual retires, and second, to address new guidelines being considered that would raise auditorium use fees for community groups like Virginia’s Li’l Ole Opry, the Court House Players and Concerts by the Bay and possibly lead to their no longer to be able to stage performances at Mathews High School’s Harry M. Ward Auditorium.

The school board also approved, by a 3-2 margin, its draft budget for 2026-2027, one based on a local contribution of $8.725 million, a decrease of $423,400 from the current allocation of $9.15 million, following several joint work sessions with the Mathews Board of Supervisors.

Transportation issue

A large contingent of school bus drivers attended Tuesday night’s meeting, concerned over the possibility that the duties of transportation director would be spread out among them after the retirement of Director of Transportation Clyde D. Royals.

Royals, who received his 20-year service pin from the school board in 2023, handed in his retirement for the coming school year, which was approved by the school board in January.

Barbara Bowling of Bohannon opened Tuesday’s public comment period, saying that the transportation division is no different in how it operates than the schools themselves, with a supervisor (“a principal, per se”) guiding a group of skilled workers, keeping up to date with state requirements and ensuring his workers do what they are tasked to do.

“It has been said that our supervisors’ duties will be divided,” Bowling said. “This has been tried before. It didn’t work.” She requested that the transportation department team meet privately with school board members to discuss the plan and its potential problems. “The impact of losing our supervisor will be a cluster,” she said.

Several other bus drivers also addressed the board, pointing out such things as Royals would scout bus drivers’ routes when there was flooding to ensure that the driver would be able to negotiate the trip without having to back out of an area, an important consideration for bus drivers who often leave their homes in the dark.

During budget discussion, Superintendent of Schools Dr. David S. Daniel said that, at this moment, the school budget does not include money for a transportation director, absorbing positions that are going to become vacant with existing staff.

Building use fees

Lynda Smith Greve, president and general manager of Virginia’s Li’l Ole Opry, spoke after Bowling to address her concerns over proposed changes to the policy manual governing use of facilities such as the MHS auditorium.

When the roof of Donk’s Theater collapsed due to heavy snow in January 2016, she and her father came to the school board to ask for its help in using the auditorium. “You gave us hope and a place, and we will forever be grateful,” Greve said.

Last year, Virginia’s Li’l Ole Opry celebrated its 50th anniversary. Greve said that they would love to stay here and put on good, affordable entertainment for another 50 years, but with increased fees, and a provision that would cap organizations’ use of the auditorium and other school facilities at two years with a possibility for a second two-year window, that would be impossible.

She said she was informed last week that custodial fees would increase by $480 per show, adding that according to the new fee schedule, Virginia’s Li’l Ole Opry would be expected to pay $1,100 per show with reduced hours requested.

Groups such as Virginia’s Li’l Ole Opry, the Court House Players and Concerts by the Bay, she said, would like to have millions of dollars to build their own facilities, but aren’t able to do so, which is why these groups partnered with the school division to raise money and provide expertise to help the auditorium become a reality.

“Please don’t take it away from us … Don’t make us take our business out of the county we love,” she said, urging the board to take another look at the document. Fifty years, she said, is a legacy for Virginia’s Li’l Ole Opry, but “it is also a Mathews legacy.”

Representatives from the other named organizations also addressed the school board and echoed Greve’s concerns about the proposed changes.

Daniel said that the facility use policy is a draft and he wanted more conversation. Last summer, at the school board’s summer work session, he said it was mentioned that there was concern over “inconsistent rates” being charged to organizations and this draft was a “first stab” to address that—“an attempt to establish consistency,” with rates differentiated for profit vs. non-profit, he said. There was also concern about the aging facilities and the need for repairs, such as the leaking roof at the auditorium.

School board member Calvin Morgan assured those at Tuesday’s meeting that “no one up here is trying to stop or curtail the use of that auditorium” but that the policy was an attempt to apply “a more consistent use fee” in establishing guidelines for all.

“I love the organizations that use the facilities,” said board member Amy Bohannon-Stewart, adding that “the fees just need us to recover the cost” of operating and maintaining the facility. “Our focus is on student achievement.”

Budget

The school board approved its draft budget by a 3-2 margin, with Morgan and Linda Hodges voting against it. Hodges expressed concern that the toll this budget cut would take on the division’s primary mission of student achievement.

“The county is also going through challenges in other departments,” Daniel said, adding that “it is a very tight budget year.” The budget would provide a 1 percent (plus step) increase to all employees, except teacher assistants, who would get a 5 percent increase, plus step.

“I do not feel comfortable with this number,” said school board chair Dr. Mari Gibbs, “but I feel that this is the best number we can attain.”

Personnel

In personnel actions following Tuesday’s closed meeting, the board approved the resignation of Mathews Elementary teacher Eileen Edmonds and MHS teacher assistant Chelsea Tripp, also approving the extracurricular staff appointment of Frances Hubbard to be the MHS yearbook and journalism advisor, and volunteer sports coaching appointments for Chelsea Lowe (tennis), Melissa Diggs (softball), Albert Foster (JV softball), Kody Gross (varsity baseball) and William S. Love Jr. (varsity softball).