In personnel actions approved Tuesday night, the Mathews County School Board appointed Al Thomas to serve as the Mathews High School athletic director for the 2018-2019 school year.

Thomas, a history/government teacher at MHS, replaces Paul White, who accepted a coaching/teaching position at Permian High School in Texas.

Thomas will continue to teach his dual enrollment classes, while the division looks to fill the MHS history teaching position. In the meantime, the school will use a long-term substitute to handle the course load, according to division superintendent Nancy Welch.

To assist Thomas, the school division has hired Al DeWitt. A retired educator, DeWitt served 18 years as MHS athletic director before leaving in 2007 to become activities director of a school in Woodbridge. He served in that post for several years before retiring and returning to Mathews.

While the school board approved the personnel actions unanimously, school board member Jeanice Sadler said she did not ...