By a 4-1 margin Tuesday night, the Mathews County School Board approved the schedule of student fees for the 2018-2019 school year, although board members kept the door open to reducing or possibly eliminating these fees in the near future, depending on the outcome of the ongoing budget process.

During the meeting in the Mathews High School media center, the school board also unanimously approved its draft budget for the following school year, forwarding the request to county supervisors for their consideration.

The approximately $14.5 million budget includes $8.09 million in local funding. Much uncertainty surrounds this year’s process, as the General Assembly has yet to adopt its state budget. Gov. Ralph Northam was scheduled to introduce a new budget yesterday afternoon for the General Assembly to consider in its April 11 special session.

The issue of student fees caused concern for some school board members who said they felt the charges were both excessive and not clearly...