As the Mathews County School Board begins the process to develop its 2016-2017 budget, teachers and administrators made the case for more personnel—specifically in the special education department and the restoration of a full-time media specialist at Thomas Hunter Middle School.

In her notice to employees, Superintendent of Schools Nancy Welch invited requests related to salary and fringe benefits during Tuesday night’s meeting, which was held in the Mathews High School media center.

However, the teachers and administrators speaking out Tuesday night didn’t seem as concerned about their own salaries and benefits as much as the need for more teachers, teacher assistants and other new employees to help the currently overburdened staff serve the student population.

In 2011, Mathews County Public Schools was forced to lay off 27 employees (including many teacher assistants), not filling retiring teacher positions, and creating stop-gap measures to handle a budget shor...