Following a public hearing Tuesday afternoon, the Mathews County School Board made no adjustments to its draft 2023-2024 budget at it prepares to present its proposal to county supervisors at a Feb. 7 joint work session.

School board members decided to keep a 5 percent pay increase for all of its employees (4 percent raise and one step on the salary scale) in its proposed budget, following a work session after the public hearing.

“I’m in favor of 5 percent across the board,” school board member Bobby Dobson said of the raise, especially since the division only gave half that amount in its current budget.

Fellow school board members Linda Hodges and John Priest agreed with Dobson. Cutting the salary increase at this point, Hodges said, would be “shortchanging us at the front end.” Priest said that the school board needs to go with a “best-case scenario” at this stage in the process.

At one point, Dobson suggested the board consider a larger increase in pay for teacher assis...