In the division’s preliminary 2026-2027 budget draft, the Mathews County School Board is considering a 2 percent salary increase, plus step on the salary scale, for most employees with a bump to be given for teacher assistants (6 percent plus step). The draft budget, which also includes funds for an athletic trainer position and covering an estimated 10 percent increase to employer health insurance costs, is based on a student enrollment of 725 students. Superintendent of Schools Dr. David S. Daniel explained that the 10 percent figure is a “place holder,” since more accurate numbers won’t be available until mid-February. School board members held a work session on the draft budget on Tuesday afternoon in the Thomas Hunter Middle School Brooks Auditorium prior to the board’s regular monthly meeting. The budget calls for an increase in local funding from the current allocation of $9.15 million to $9.4 million, with a projected drop in state funding of roughly $365,000 to $5.65 million. ...