Teachers, administrators, parents and other community members painted a dire picture of Mathews County Public Schools—one where classrooms are understaffed, basic equipment and supplies are lacking and teachers and others vastly undercompensated—as the school board entertained requests for the 2018-2019 budget at the start of Tuesday’s meeting.

Rachel Morris, Mark Tomcany and Betsy Little of the Mathews Education Association kicked off the discussion with an impassioned plea, backed up by charts and graphs showing a steady decline in inflation-adjusted teacher pay and the results of a survey from 102 Mathews teachers.

The survey showed that more than 45 percent of those surveyed work another job outside of the classroom to make ends meet, and more than 55 percent have seen a decrease in their monthly paychecks compared to last year, in spite of a 2 percent raise. For many, that slight raise was more than offset by a hike in health insurance premiums.

“We are ...