In 2019, after years of budgets that included little or no increase in employee pay, the Mathews County School Board was finally able to give its teachers and other staff a raise of approximately 13 percent.

As it heads into the planning process for the 2020-2021 budget, the board is looking to build on those gains in order to retain and attract quality classroom professionals and remain competitive with neighboring school divisions.

The school board held its first budget work session Tuesday afternoon in the Mathews High School media center.

Superintendent of Schools Nancy Welch provided board members with a summary of budget requests that included 99 bullet points, covering everything from several new positions (a Student Support Specialist for grades K-8, a School Social Worker and special education and physical education teachers at MHS) to requests for books, band equipment, furniture, painting and maintenance needs.

But the main driver of the school budget continues to be emp...