Mathews County Superintendent of Schools Dr. David S. Daniel addressed the division’s emergency school closure during a special meeting held Friday morning in the school board office.
All three county schools were closed both Thursday, Jan. 16 and Friday, Jan. 17 over concerns about the domestic water supply at Mathews Elementary School. With no classes held Monday because of the King Day holiday, schools in Mathews were set to resume on Tuesday. However, early Monday evening, the school division announced that it would be closed Tuesday as well.
The domestic and boiler water were tested and improvements made to the valves in the boiler room. “Results of the water analysis confirmed the safety of the domestic water supply,” a post on the division’s Facebook page announced on Monday. “However, it also revealed high levels of a chemical additive in the boiler water system. Out of an abundance of caution to ensure the safety of our students and staff,” the post stated, the schools were again closed on Tuesday. “This will allow us to deploy a professional cleaning service at MES.”
The problem was resolved and school was scheduled to return back in regular session on Wednesday, Jan. 22. However, snowy conditions caused the cancellation of classes in both Mathews and Gloucester counties. Barring any other unforeseen issues, school will resume today in Mathews.
“After thorough testing of our drinking water and boiler water systems, we are pleased to confirm that all of the water systems are safe, and all necessary measures have been taken to ensure our facilities continue to be safe for our students, faculty, and staff,” the division posted on its social media account on Tuesday afternoon.
This past Friday’s special meeting was called for another reason, with the board addressing a personnel matter. Following a roughly 40-minute closed session, the board voted by a 5-0 margin to approve Daniel’s recommendation for revocation of an employee’s license.
School closure
On Wednesday afternoon, the school division announced the closure on another social media post. That notice stated that the division had been alerted to the possibility that the domestic water supply at MES could have been exposed to the circulated water supplying the school’s boiler system through a valve linking the separate systems.
“Although this valve has remained closed, its existence as a bridge between the two independent systems is not a best practice,” the notice stated. The schools were closed at that point “out of an abundance of caution” and to allow enough time to ensure the safety of the school’s drinking water.
At Friday’s meeting, in response to a question from school board member Bobby Dobson, Daniel said the issue came to light during an inspection as part of a preventative maintenance contract with Southern Air, Inc., as they observed a connecting line with a valve in place between the two systems. There was no evidence of cross contamination, but the school division was unable “to certify there was an absence of an issue,” resulting in the school closure until there was time to certify the water quality and repair/correct the plumbing.
Water samples were drawn and sent to James R. Reed & Associates of Newport News for testing, and Daniel was awaiting the results on Friday morning. A part had been ordered and it was anticipated that the repair would be conducted on Monday.
Water testing is performed quarterly, Daniel said, and Sydnor Hydro pulled the old records for the school and they were all fine. Once the repairs are made and additional water sampling is done, those results will be made available to the public “to instill trust,” Daniel said.
“The county has been a wonderful partner in this process,” Daniel said, since the problem was first encountered earlier this week. “They have been nothing but supportive.”
Daniel singled out the efforts of Mathews County’s Facilities and Grounds Manager Tim Tillage, County Administrator Ramona Wilson, and county supervisors Tim Doss and David Jones in looking into this issue and providing help. They “were invaluable to getting this resolved as soon as possible.”
Missed days
Along with two days missed earlier this month due to snow, and yesterday’s snow day, the division has lost six instructional days for the 2024-2025 school year so far. At Friday’s special meeting, Daniel said that he is revisiting state code and double-checking hours before deploying any possible “recovery strategies” for the missed time. Some possible strategies include extending the school day and providing breakfast in the classroom rather than the cafeteria, before the school board has to look at such measures as clawing back some spring break days.
He said he was “triple checking” the instructional minutes/hours and had hoped to have it all clarified in time for Tuesday’s regular monthly meeting. However, that meeting (as well as a second meeting with county supervisors on the 2025-2026 budget) were canceled and rescheduled. Following that, the two boards were initially scheduled to hold a special meeting on the evening of Wednesday, Jan. 22, to address the issue. However, on Tuesday afternoon, that meeting was canceled.
The joint meeting on the budget is now set for 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 4, in the J. Murray Brooks Auditorium at Thomas Hunter Middle School, followed at 6 p.m. by the school board’s rescheduled monthly meeting.
A public hearing on the budget was originally set for Jan. 28; that has now been moved to Thursday, Feb. 6, at 5 p.m., also set for the Brooks Auditorium. Following the public hearing, the board will hold a work session on the budget.
This year’s school calendar was set at 177 days; divisions are required to provide a minimum of 990 instructional hours.
Looking ahead to the 2025-2026 school year, there are two draft proposals being considered—179 days and 180 days—that would give the division more bank time in case of snow days and other emergencies.