The Mathews County School Board, at its meeting Tuesday night at Thomas Hunter Middle School, adopted its proposed FY26 budget, a budget that calls for a 5 percent pay increase for teachers and other employees (4 percent plus one step on the salary scale), as well as the division covering hefty increases to employees’ health insurance payments.
The budget calls for an increase in county funds of slightly over $400,000, from the current contribution of $9,736,676 to $10,140,980. The overall FY26 budget is $18,167,737 with $5.8 million expected from the state and a little over $600,000 from federal funding.
The increase in the county’s share doesn’t account for a planned consolidation in school maintenance costs, with the county taking over a number of those expenditures through a Memorandum of Understanding, including such things as heating oil and utilities costs, and maintenance staff salaries and benefits. Superintendent of Schools Dr. David S. Daniel said that the net change of the consolidation is about $600,000.
On Friday, Daniel said, the school board office received word from health care insurance provider Sentara that its premiums will be increasing 21.4 percent in the coming year, which will cost the division $322,380. As a “place holder,” the original budget had included an increase of 8 percent. Anthem, the division’s other health care insurance provider, will be increasing its premiums 5.5 percent, which will cost the school division $43,824. School division employees, Daniel said, are predominantly enrolled in the Sentara plan, “about three to one.”
School board member Mary Kathryn Diggs thanked Daniel for his work on this budget and applauded the cooperative spirit between the school board and supervisors to increase teacher pay to be more competitive with neighboring school divisions.
“For me, as the new kid on the block here, I am fairly delighted that we’re trying to close the gap and we have support from our board of supervisors,” Diggs said. Daniel said that this has helped in recruiting teachers to the division. “That word of mouth carries an awful lot,” he said. The proposed 5 percent salary increase amounts to about $566,000.
School board member Linda Hodges commended Daniel in his proposed budget for not seeking to pass on the increase in health care premiums to the division’s employees, which would have negated any increase in pay.
The school board voted 4-1 to approve the budget, with Bobby Dobson casting the lone nay vote. The budget will now advance to the Mathews supervisors, who will consider the request.
YMCA proposal
Tuesday’s meeting began with an announcement from board chairman Dr. Mari Gibbs that the YMCA’s proposal for a preschool/day care program housed in the division would not be an action item since the Y withdrew its proposal last Wednesday.
That proposal had been the subject of much public comment in recent months, with some speaking in favor of it, and others saying that it would go beyond the school board’s mission of providing K-12 education to the county.
Representatives from the Y had previously indicated that they hope to go forward with its preschool/day care plan if it isn’t housed within the school division.
Calendar changes
In response to a number of school closings this winter, in part due to snow and also a result of a water issue at Mathews Elementary, the board amended its 2024-2025 school calendar.
To make up the missed days, the school board changed 1 p.m. early dismissal days to full school days on June 3-6 and extended school day dismissal time from 2:50 p.m. to 3:05 p.m. That change was approved by a 4-1 margin, with Dobson voting against it.
So far this year, the school division has missed eight instructional days. “Tomorrow’s is nine, and then maybe 10,” Daniel said, referring to Wednesday’s closure in advance of the approaching snowstorm. A decision regarding Thursday and Friday was withheld “on the slim chance this storm doesn’t live up to expectations,” a notice on the division’s Facebook page stated on Tuesday.
Next year’s school calendar was approved unanimously, one that includes some extra “wiggle room” in case of school closures, Daniel said.
Daniel reported that the division’s cafeteria staff went into overdrive on Tuesday, preparing take-home meals for the students to ensure they had lunch for the days ahead. Food Service Coordinator Christy Lindberg told Daniel that Mathews Elementary and THMS did 2,437 meals total on Tuesday between regular feeding and bagged meals, while MHS did 1,103 total meals.
Emily Betz, who works in the THMS office, spoke during public comment about the effort, which also involved teachers and support staff distributing these meals, adding a thanks to the Hudgins Dollar General, which donated 200 bags for some of the meals that were sent home with the students.
The school board is still planning to meet at 8 a.m. Friday, “weather permitting,” in the school board conference room for a work session on school consolidation plans, Gibbs said. “Mother Nature will let us know if we’re going to have it Friday.”
On Tuesday, the school board will hold its public town hall meeting, beginning at 6 p.m. in the J. Murray Brooks Auditorium at THMS.