Amid concerns over financial pressures experienced by county residents due to inflation and skyrocketing fuel costs, coupled with a declining student population, several members of the Mathews County Board of Supervisors looked for ways to trim the school division’s budget during a joint work session Tuesday night in the Mathews High School media center.
Supervisors Mike Walls and Dave Jones both spoke in favor of what they termed “level funding”—keeping the county’s contribution equivalent to the amount it was for the current year.
That level funding (which is less the meals tax money and a midyear appropriation of $320,000) would be slightly under $9 million, which falls about $1.17 million short from what the division had requested in its operating budget, adopted back in February.
The average county taxpayer’s wages aren’t going up, and at the same time they’re paying more at the grocery store and the gas pump, Jones said. “When are we going to stop” with yearly school budget hikes, he asked, while “the [school] population continues to fall.”
Supervisors are expected to adopt the county’s FY 2022-2023 and Capital Improvement Plan budgets following a public hearing set for 6 p.m. on Wednesday, June 15. The location of that meeting was originally planned to be the county’s historic courthouse, but has since been moved to the MHS auditorium.
During Tuesday’s wide-ranging two-and-a-half hour meeting, discussion touched on everything from concerns over what some view as “top-heavy” school administration and the life of school buses, to the possibility of refusing federal school funding, school security needs and the expense of aging school facilities.
Enrollment has dropped precipitously over the past two decades. A chart prepared by the school division and included in its February budget showed that for the 2003-2004 school year, Mathews County Public Schools had an enrollment approaching nearly 1,300 students. By the division’s fall 2021 count, that number had dropped to 903. Enrollment did increase to 949 by the spring 2022 count, as students returned to the classroom as pandemic restrictions eased, superintendent of schools Nancy Welch pointed out. The school board’s adopted 2022-2023 budget was based on an average daily membership of 890 students.
At the same time, school board chairman Linda Hodges said the division is trying its best to offer a “dynamic curriculum” to its students, with more classes and more choices.
Mathews is also facing high fixed costs in order to maintain its aging infrastructure. Welch said the division is 27 years out from any major renovation project. “Guys, we’re paying for it right now,” in terms of maintenance and upkeep, she said.
A related cost is maintaining and replacing an aging bus fleet. Of the 22 buses used daily, seven are more than 15 years old. Five units have more than 150,000 miles; two others are approaching that number. The CIP budget includes a request for four new buses this year, with two more each year to reestablish a replacement cycle.
Walls, the retired owner of a trucking company, brought his expertise with diesel-powered vehicles to the conversation, suggesting that the Virginia Department of Education recommendations on the life of a bus are excessive. “150,000 (miles) is nowhere near the end of its lifespan,” he said, suggesting that if properly maintained, it could last 450,000 to 500,000 miles.
Walls also suggested that the county may consider opting out of federal funding, thereby avoiding the accompanying federal mandates. Mathews is projected to receive less than $2.2 million in federal revenues in the 2022-2023 budget.
“All the stupid stuff that goes on is mandated by the state and federal government,” school board member Bobby Dobson said, echoing Walls’s sentiment.
However, Welch said that much of the federal funding trickles down through the VDOE and state requirements often mirror those of the federal government. “You’re not just dealing with the feds,” she said. If the school division chooses to “stick it” to the federal government, school board member John Priest said, “we’re liable to be sticking it to the state government too.”
On the issue of “top heavy” administration, which was suggested by Walls, Hodges replied that state and federal reporting requirements have shot up dramatically, and teachers are more valuable in the classroom than they are filling out reports.
Priest said a look at organizational charts for surrounding school systems will show a number of positions that Mathews doesn’t have. He said that when speaking with school officials in other areas, they are often taken aback to find out all the tasks that Welch has taken on herself. Supervisor Melissa Mason, a former school board member, said that there is much required reporting for 504 and IEP students and if that is not done, then services for those students could be cut.
The meeting concluded with public comment (added to the agenda at the request of Walls), with many of those speaking agreeing with the idea of level funding for the school division in the coming year.
“Thank you for meeting with us,” Jones said to the school board members. “This is how we get things done.” Hodges said the two boards are expected to meet again in October in hopes of fostering a better understanding of one another’s needs and expectations.