Instead of giving school employees a one-time bonus, Mathews County Public Schools is now looking at a retroactive 1.5 percent pay increase, following concerns expressed during the public comment period of last month’s school board meeting.
At Tuesday’s monthly meeting in the Brooks Auditorium at Thomas Hunter Middle School, Superintendent of Schools Dr. David S. Daniel provided an update on what he called the “give-back” money for school employees.
In the division’s recently concluded budget, proposed employee raises of 5 percent had been reduced to 2 percent to offset unanticipated expenses, with the hope that this money could eventually be given back to teachers and other employees. As of June 30, approximately $172,000 had been unspent.
At the board’s Oct. 17 meeting, Daniel and school board members discussed using this money to provide a possible mid-year bonus of roughly $1,000 per employee.
Several employees pushed back on the idea, pointing out that such a bonus would not have an effect on their eventual VRS retirement, as well as the additional taxes that would be assessed on a bonus, as opposed to a salary increase.
The pay increase would likely go into effect early next year. The school board will eventually have to go to the board of supervisors to seek the release of these funds.
Presentations
Tuesday’s meeting began with a pair of presentations. In the first, four Mathews High School students spoke of the benefits of participation in the Chesapeake Bay Governor’s School. Sophomore Ella Ward, juniors Suki Zheng and Grayson Griffith and senior Zoe Camp provided board members with an insight into the hands-on learning being done by students in the marine and environmental science program.
In the second presentation, Frances “Tater” Morgan of Mathews, who is a dispatcher for the Region 5 Crisis Call Center with the Western Tidewater Community Services Board, spoke about the suicide and crisis lifeline number of 988, which is now required to be posted on all student identification cards. Daniel informed her that Lifetouch, provider of student IDs for the division, is updating the student IDs now, at no cost to the schools.
The 988 hotline is not geo-located (unlike 911), so if you have any area code other than 757, 804 or 948, you won’t be given full access to local resources. For a direct connection to the Region Five Crisis Call Center, you can call 757-656-7755.
In addition to providing this information on student IDs, Morgan said that the numbers should be shared in all classrooms in the hopes of reaching those who might be facing a personal crisis.
Public comment
During public comment, parent Jenna Rowe of Cobbs Creek, urged school board members to get more involved in the day-to-day activities of the schools, to attend sports and other events. “Show the kids that you’re there,” she said, suggesting they would receive more information from parents and students in that relaxed setting. “That is the best place to get input,” she said.
Thomas Hunter Middle School teacher Amy Bohannon-Stewart addressed her concerns about the composition of the new faculty and staff advisory committee. “They are good people, but they are not representative,” she said, with several having limited tenure with the division.
She also addressed concerns she had after learning from her daughter about her daughter’s English teacher leaving the division, rather than from the school. She suggested such information should be shared through the automated call system. “We have that system; why not use it,” she asked.
Brandy Larson, vice president of the MHS Booster Club, spoke about everything that organization does and urged school board members to come out and lend a hand with such things as concessions and ticket sales at games, or even baking brownies.
The group has a number of projects in the works, including plans to paint the school’s weight room as well as holding a volunteer appreciation dinner in January. “We’re all in this together, because together we will win,” she said. “We are dreaming big.”
Attendance
Daniel discussed attendance data from the first nine weeks of the school year during his informational reports. While some of the numbers have improved after implementation of a new attendance policy, there was one disturbing number he shared. Looking at the number of chronically absent students (missing 17 days or more), there were seven at MHS, compared to two this time last year.
However, the number of students at risk of being chronically absent (missing five or more days) stands at 49 (compared to 82 this time last year). Numbers were also lower at the other two county schools.
Personnel
Following a closed meeting, the board approved a number of personnel actions, accepting the resignation of MHS teacher Chad Parmentier, Mathews Elementary custodian Richard Spriggs and MES teacher assistant June Lupton, appointing MHS cafeteria manager Connie O’Neill and intramural basketball coordinators Kayla Tobin, Susan “Laurie” Haynes, Jennifer Doss, Stacey Griffith and Zackary Jarosz.
Upcoming meetings
The school board will hold a budget work session at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 12 in the Brooks Auditorium, with the regular monthly meeting to follow at 6. The school board will receive public/employee requests for the 2024-2025 budget at the 6 o’clock meeting.
The school board will hold a retreat from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024 at Mathews Memorial Library.