By a 4-1 margin, the Mathews County School Board approved its proposed 2015-2016 budget during Tuesday night’s meeting, which was held in the Thomas Hunter Middle School media center. The budget will be forwarded to county supervisors for their consideration.

The $13.5 million budget represents a slight decrease ($30,322) in county funds, as compared to the current allocation. However, it is not as much of a decrease as originally proposed by Superintendent of Schools Dr. David J. Holleran.

In Holleran’s previous draft budget, the county would have been asked for $7.43 million in local funds, which is $96,335 less than this year’s budget.

The difference is in the size of a proposed salary increase for teachers and other employees. In Holleran’s proposal, employees would have received a 1.5 percent raise (which would have included a step on the salary scale). The budget adopted Tuesday night contains a 1.5 percent raise, in addition to the step.

The state is ...