MCPS School Board Meeting 03/17/2026

001Mhm. >> Mhm. >> and roll call vote of subjects discussed in closed meeting. May I have a motion? Yes, I'll make a motion we adopt the certificate of closed meeting. Thank you, Mr. Morgan. Do we have a second? I second that. Thank you, Ms. Diggs. Is there any discussion? >> [clears throat] >> There being none, Ms. Lowe, may we have the roll call vote, please? Ms. Bowen Stewart? Yes. Ms. Hodges? Yes. Ms. Diggs? Yes. Mr. Morgan? Yes. Ms. Lowe? Yes. Item 2.3, approval of personnel action. May I have a motion? I make a motion to approve the personnel action as listed. Thank you, Mrs. Hodges. Do we have a second? Second. Thank you, Mr. Morgan. Is there any discussion? There being none, all those in favor say I. I. Opposed? Motion passes. We are now

002adjourned from closed session. I'd now like to call to order the March 17th, 2026 Matthews County School Board regular monthly meeting with item 1.1. Item 1.2 is our pledge of allegiance. Would you please join me in the pledge? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Item 1.3, Ms. Lowe, may we have the roll call? Mr. Underwood? Here. Ms. Diggs? Here. Ms. Gates? Here. Ms. Bohannon? Present. Dr. Gee? Present. Thank you. Item 1.4, approval of the agenda additions and deletions. May I have a motion? Yes, I make a motion to approve the agenda as listed. >> Thank you, Ms. Diggs. Do we have a second? Second. >> Thank you, Ms. Bohannon Stewart.

003Is there any discussion? There being none, all those in favor, say I. I opposed. Motion passes. Item 1.5, consent agenda. May I have a motion? I make a motion to approve the minutes of the February 3rd, 2026 special meeting/community and civic organization school tour, February 17th, 2026 closed meeting and regular monthly meeting, February 24th, 2026 public hearing and joint school board Board of Supervisors budget work session, and February 25th, 2026 school board winter work session, revised governance norms and protocols, reviewed policies by the school board policy committee, bus request, revised school board meeting schedule, revised 2025-2026 academic calendar, revised school board budget calendar, and monthly claims as presented on the consent agenda. Thank you, Mrs. Hodges. May we have a second? I second that. Thank you, Ms. Diggs. Is there any discuss discussion? I don't

004think so. There be none. All those in favor say I. I. Opposed? Motion passes. And just to note that all of the claims dates are filled through the end of June. Item 1.6, the Mathews County School Board Governance Norms and Protocols. Ms. Diggs, would you do the honors? Yes. Thank you. Uh exceptions for the participation in professional development. School board members are required to participate in high-quality professional development. >> [snorts] >> Expectations for participation in meetings and conferences. School board members will contact the school board clerk if wishing to attend a meeting or conference. Well, thank you, Ms. Diggs. And if you're not a regular visitor to the school board meetings, we do highlight two of our norms and protocols every month so that everyone has an understanding of the norms and protocols that we

005do indeed follow. Item two, student spotlight. This is a new category for us where we want to highlight exceptional student performance. Mr. Mark Givens, would you please take the podium? >> Thank you all so much for having me here tonight. I'm here on behalf of the music department at the middle school and the high school. We have had a lot of high achievements from our students recently that I wanted to highlight. One in particular that we're leading to, but we've had several different honor band auditions that our students have been a part of over the last several months. Our students participate in both the area band, which is lots of single high school districts from the Northern Neck and Middle Peninsula that get together and do an honor band together. Students audition at a single

006site and then are selected for an ensemble from that get to participate in a band. Some of our students from the high school also go down a little further south to the Williamsburg, Newport News area and compete against all students in those school. There is no distinction in school size, so it's all schools down there that we go up against in that. And students do the same thing down there. And we have some students at the high school level that are successful at that. So I wanted to highlight those students. We have some of our students who are with us in attendance today. When I call your name, if you could just stand to be recognized. So first for our area band we had in the junior area band, which is our seventh and eighth

007graders, we had Alex Osborne as an alternate euphonium player. Lilly Yeager as a alternate alto sax player. Owen Shapiro is an alternate percussionist. Katie Hudgins is 22nd chair clarinet. Joseph Wagner, 15th chair clarinet. Spencer Copeland, seventh chair trombone. Lars Golden, sixth chair trombone. Presley Marrero, fourth chair tuba. Ada Barnes, fourth chair horn. Kaylee Jordan, fourth chair bass clarinet. Phoebe Crowder, third chair euphonium. Sophia Eno, third chair clarinet. and Keegan Walls, first chair trumpet. So, those are our students that qualified for the junior area band. >> [applause] [applause] >> The senior high area band is our ninth through 12th grade students. And there we had Adam Dustin as an alternate on mallets, and John Payne also as an alternate on mallets. Hayden Owens is an alternate on snare. Bella Hawkenberry Bella Hawkenberry, sorry, seventh seventh chair

008clarinet. Charlotte Bailey, sixth sixth chair trumpet. Alex McDevitt, fifth chair tuba. Logan Messias, fifth chair horn. Jordan Sedag, fifth chair clarinet. Evelyn Welsh, fourth chair alto sax. Ivar Golden, fourth chair clarinet. Corey Zang, fourth chair flute. Tristan Barnes, third chair euphonium. Bethany Davis, third chair trombone. Annabelle Miller, third chair alto sax. Kate Christopher, third chair trumpet. Gavin Williams, second chair snare. Hunter Owens, first chair bass clarinet. Ethan White, first chair flute. And Toby Eskins, first chair trumpet. That's all in the senior band. Let's go >> [applause] >> The all-district band is a much higher level of competition. We have that is a I I have all of our students audition for area band. Some students choose also to go above and beyond audition for the all-district band. Very high requirements and very um very talented

009students that they're going up against in that. We had this year six students qualify for that group as well. Um in the junior high band, we had Keegan Walls qualify as the sixth chair junior junior high trumpet. Uh Ivar Golden was the seventh chair clarinet in the concert band. Jordan Sedag was the first chair clarinet in the concert band. Kate Christopher was the 10th chair trumpet in the symphonic band. That's the highest band that they have for that. Toby Eskins was the seventh chair symphonic band trumpet. And Hunter Owens was the first chair symphonic band contra alto clarinet. >> [applause] >> So, all of these students worked very hard individually to achieve this. Hunter, because he was first chair in the in our district, he had the opportunity to go and audition for All-State band.

010And that's just to try out. Every one of our 16 districts in the state have a student on contra alto clarinet that goes to JMU, and they all audition against each other. At that audition, Hunter Owens qualified as the first chair in the entire state for the contra alto clarinet. So, >> [applause] >> And the really neat thing about it is that unlike getting, you know, picked for an All-State team for for a sport, they actually get to go and kind of have an All-Star game. So, he gets to go to Richmond in April. And they will students from all across the state will come. They'll be working with conductors from around the country. All the top musicians in the state will be performing a concert together. So, that is and that is a open

011concert that people can come to and attend and support him as we as he does that. So, we're very proud of his achievement in being part of the All-Virginia band. Absolutely. >> [applause] >> Thank you for your dedication and commitment to these students. You've really brought out the best in them um and and clearly a leader. We have not seen this level of achievement for many many many years here in Matthews. But as we as I think about it, um competing against Northern Virginia, competing against Richmond, Norfolk, Virginia Beach, I and that it's just um it is truly you know, Hunter and all of the students, it's just truly highly you're highly to be highly commended for um your discipline and your commitment um to the band. So, thank you so much for to both

012of you. >> [applause] >> And Mr. Mr. Owens, if you would step forward, we have a little um certificate for you and an opportunity for picture. Mr. Coning. Oh, yes. Item 2.2, more student recognition with Ms. Rachel Morris, the art teacher. Hi. We are here tonight to talk about our participation in the Matthews 250 poster contest that was um maybe 2 weeks ago. We This is Ellie Congrove and Nolan Swan and I will let you know a little bit more about what they did in a minute. We were approached maybe November, December to participate in a poster contest sponsored by the Matthews 250 committee. And they came up with our prompt. It was what it means to me to be an American. Um and we kind of started on it when we came back from

013winter break, which is also when we started with the ice and the snow and all of the time off. Um but we we pulled it together. We have about 101 art students. Every student participated. Um 30 were selected to go to the base school for a panel judging um with base school employees and then committee members. And these guys are our winners. Nolan was first place. Ellie was second. Um Marley Brock was our third place. She actually can't be here tonight. She's got softball practice. She was able to make the reception though. These two weren't able to make the reception so they made it here. So we're just trading off. Um Their work is all on display in the library in the courthouse right now. So if you want to see it, there are 30

014pieces there and um online as well. So. Fantastic performance. Congratulations. >> [applause] >> I have some certificates. Um I had a chance to be there that night. I I should say chance, not opportunity. And it was overwhelming to see certainly for the the front of it to see the picture and what they came up with. Some of them didn't make any sense to me. I couldn't figure out where they were coming from until I read the back of them. Um so um let me just hand these out first. You and then award these first. Marley is not here. Can I give that Ellie, thank you very much. Can you just take a moment to tell everybody what you what you drew and what it what it briefly what it meant to you? So, for mine

015I actually chose a Ford F-150 truck. My papa had a red truck that it kind of stayed at like I remember it since being little and he was always working on it. I actually made mine blue, but for me what it means to be an American is something that lives on past your legacy and my papa unfortunately passed away about three years ago. And his truck is something that still kind of brings us close together and reminds us of him. And in my mind that's kind of the equivalent to things that make you an American that stay on forever. Good job, guys. >> [applause] >> I didn't know yours was the most I listened to me until I heard that back and then I was just like blown away. So, if you would first of

016all congratulations and secondly if you would just share with them what you what you envisioned, what you drew and what it meant to you. >> So, mine was a little ambiguous. It was The first idea was Washington crossing the Delaware and in history class I was always looking at that photo. So, it's got burned into my memory. And then I just wanted to be a little bit more original and I thought of you know, how we started our nation and the 13 colonies. So, I was like all right, let's get the state animals from each one and put them on that boat instead of Washington and his posse. And uh So, that's what I did. Each colony got their own animal. Some of them had the same one and uh what I feel like it

017means to be an American is freedom and honoring those that fight for that and put their lives at risk every day. Just like Delaware and just like Washington and them did crossing the Delaware fighting against England. Very nice. Inspiring. >> [applause] >> And thank you Mrs. Morris for bringing out the best in these students. Do you have a photo opportunity? Sure, absolutely. Mr. Coney. Fantastic. Thank you very much and congratulations. Great job. VA250. VA250. VA250. [applause] That's wonderful. Wonderful. All right. Moving on to item three, questions or comments from our school board student representative, Ms. Ford. Good to see you this evening. Okay, so first at the elementary school, we are calling this month our month of family engagement. Our school has been abuzz with activities and learning. Before beginning, a special thanks is sent

018to our local NAACP for their stay healthy drive. Each classroom teacher received sanitizing wipes and two extra boxes of tissues. We were also able to store leftover wipes, tissues, and sanitizer. We appreciate their efforts to help keep students healthy and in school by staying germ-free. At the end of last month, the resource team hosted a joyful art and musical showcase titled This Little Light of Mine. First and second grade students proudly displayed and shared their color their colorful artwork and filled the room with music as they performed lively selections inspired by folk tales and spirituals. We kicked off the month with our one book one school program. Thanks to the generosity of Chesapeake Bank, every student and teacher received a copy of this year's novel, Charlotte's Web. Since the kickoff, students across the school take

019part in daily chapter-related trivia questions and families are encouraged to read together each night. This annual program is fantastic in establishing a culture of reading building wide. On Friday, March 6th, we celebrated Read Across America. Students from Miss Mrs. Burrows seventh grader Mrs. Burrows seventh grade class visited classrooms to share the memorial studies of Dr. Seuss and many students participated in spirit day by dressing up as their favorite book character. Fourth grade students participated in the national assessment of educational progress. Students were assessed in either reading or math. The results are reported through the nation's report card, which provides important information about academic progress and trends in education. Our family math night took place this past Thursday and was a great evening of learning and fun. Despite the interesting weather, Mrs. Williams FCCLA members did

020a fantastic job setting up stations where families enjoyed hands-on math games and activities together. Students practice math skills while working alongside their families. We were glad that Miss Bohannon Stewart was able to join and she was able to lend a helping hand to the student organizers. Later this month, on March 26th, we will host a fun night of literacy. During this event, parents will receive helpful information about our MTSS process and how it supports students learning and success. Mrs. Dolls kicked off the Great Computer Challenge. At the same time, our running club is making its return after starting in the fall. We have also posted a flyer for kindergarten camp to the school's social media page. Registration for K camp begins March 16th. This process also registers rising kindergarteners for the 2026-2027 school year. An

021upcoming school wide spirit day for St. Patrick for St. Patrick's Day is in the works. Students and staff are asked to wear the color green and the courtesy committee has planned a fun activity for staff. March has been full of learning, family involvement with the sprinkle of school spirit at MES. And then here are the updates for Thomas Hunter Middle School. Our Seahawks have had a fantastic month of learning. Our students have had the opportunity to visit two museums. Seventh graders went to the Science Museum of Virginia and sixth graders visited the Virginia Living Museum. Both of the trips were paid in full by the Gwynn's Island Civic League Foundation. We cannot thank you enough to the We cannot thank the community enough for their support from this organization. THMS is celebrating March Madness with

022reading and math skills where students are setting goals in class to meet. Students who meet their goals are able to earn prizes for their growth. Way to go, Seahawks. Come join Thomas Hunter Middle School students for a literacy night on March 26th. It's a night for THMS students to celebrate reading. Forms were sent home to reserve a spot for dinner. Parents, please send the forms back to your child's teacher. Congratulations to the students of the month at THMS. Congratulations to Cayden Sai Hanik, Jackson Hood, Phoebe Crowder, and John West. Band students are preparing to head to the area band concert where students auditioned and were selected for this honor. Congratulations to the following THMS students who will be attending the concert. Phoebe Crowder, Caylee Jordan, Ada Barnes, Presley Marrero, Lars Golden, Spencer Copeland, Joseph Wagner,

023Katie Hudgins, and Owen Shapiro. And thank you to Mr. Givens for his leadership in our music department. March is also Music in Our Schools Month in Virginia. We appreciate the extra rehearsals and after-school tutoring Mr. Givens and the Mathews High School Tri-M students provide for our middle school band students. Come support the band students as they also participate in the Coffee Shop Jazz on March 25th at 6:30 in the Mathews High School cafeteria. Let's stay focused and finish quarter three strong. We want our Seahawks here on time every day. Please check your child's grades in PowerSchool to ensure that all assignments have been submitted. And then at the high school, spring sports are in full swing this month with many of the first games of the season happening this week. On Friday, February 27th, many

024of our students were inducted into the National Beta Club. Congratulations to Mrs. Forrest and the 78 members of our Beta Club for being awarded the designation of being a National School of Merit. March is scholarship deadline month at Mathews High School with at least 13 scholarships becoming due. Students can get their scholarship applications from the school counseling office. The new weapon detection system was implemented at the beginning of March and although the first couple of days were a learning experience for everyone, things have gone much more smoothly as everyone has gained familiarity with the new system. Seniors successfully completed their mock interviews as they prepare for life after high school. We appreciate our school counseling department for everything they do to provide exciting career day activities for our students. Congratulations to Will Ware for bringing

025home second place out of 40 participants from 18 different schools in the JROTC drum meet at Gloucester High School. Congratulations also goes to Hunter Owens for placing first in the state in the contra contra alto clarinet at the All-Virginia Band Auditions. Hunter is only the fifth student in the history of Mathews High School to qualify for the All-Virginia Band. He will travel to Richmond on April 16th through 18th to rehearse with to rehearse with the top student band in the state, the All-Virginia Symphonic Band. Thank you. Wonderful report, Ms. Ward. Thank you. Moving on to item four, student achievement. We have the Chesapeake Bay Governor's School, Mr. Rob Wright. Mr. Rob's here. He's not here. Do we have our participants? Would you like to take this one, Ms. Bohannon Stewart? That'd be wonderful. >> I

026saw there. Absolutely. Okay, so um I am the school board member that is also on the Chesapeake Bay Governor's School, which excites me greatly because I I was a former science teacher. So, um recently I went to the Chesapeake Bay Governor's School Symposium. It was on a Saturday at VCU early March and um man, what a great day for for a former science teacher to see your former students up there. I was so impressed with their their presentations. I saw all four senior presentations and was just it exceeded my expectations. I knew it was going to be a great day, but it just exceeded my expectations. Um three of these four students won awards for their presentations and being a total science nerd myself, I just was wowed that these these high school students that

027were taking college classes were using statistical analyses that I didn't use till my junior year at Virginia Tech. Um you know, analysis of variance T test, P values. I was just super excited. So, one of my favorite memories. So, That's great. Ms. Ward, I don't want to put you on the spot, but would you feel comfortable approaching the podium and speaking a little bit about your project? Thank you. So, um my project was to construct the sensor that measured water levels. It was designed by this man named Dr. Bresnihan who works at UNC Wilmington. And the idea behind his project was that he would create this online repository that people can follow. It's like a step-by-step thing. And high school students would be able to purchase the sensor, construct it, and then use it to

028collect data on tides in their local areas. But COVID and some other things happened and he wasn't able to have any high school classes actually attempt the project. Um he worked on it with his college students, one of which Dylan White um used to go to Chesapeake Bay Governor's School. And he was like, I think this would be a really good thing for a senior at CBGS to do for their project. And so, he brought it there and sorry, and Ms. Beam thought that I would be a good fit for it. And so, I basically just followed the instructions, built the sensor. I deployed it at William's Wharf in like October and I was able to catch the king tide. Um the data actually was pretty accurate. I did a statistical analysis like Ms. Bohannon

029said and I found that it was statistically significantly accurate. So, that's really meaningful data I think, especially for this local area as we experience tidal flooding regularly. Um and yeah, it was really exciting. It was a really rewarding experience. I loved the presentation. I was super nervous for it, but it went pretty well. So. Yeah, I don't believe it. I don't believe it. Members, do you have any questions or comments for Ms. Ward? Go ahead, Ms. Diggs. Living down here in Mathews all my life, um and being a person who loves the water, I think that project suits you great and I think you did a fantastic job spur of the moment to come up and present to everyone. Thank you. >> Thank you. That's terrific. That's terrific. Thank you for all that you're doing

030for us as well. Congratulations on a great research project. We appreciate all your efforts. Good job, girl. That's good. >> [applause] >> All right, moving on to item five, citizens questions, comments, or requests. Comments. Comments not pertaining to personnel or student matters. The protocol for public comment period, Mathews County residents and school employees wishing to speak should sign up with their name and address on the sheet provided. Each individual will have 3 minutes to speak. Comment period will end after 90 minutes. All comments should be directed to the school board. Speakers shall not address matters involving students or personnel as these topics may violate confidentiality and are not appropriate in a public forum. Public comment is the school board's opportunity to listen to the speaker. Since our purpose is to hear from you, the board

031will not engage in dialogue with the audience or whomever is at the podium. Matters requiring a response will be directed to the superintendent for research and response. The superintendent may report back on such matters at a subsequent business meeting session as appropriate. The school board carefully considers your comments when deciding on matters brought before us. We appreciate your attendance and your input. Our first speaker this evening is Barbara L. Bowling. >> [snorts] >> Hello. My name is Barbara Bowling and I live in the Bohannon area of um Matthews. Um it has come to our attention that next school year we will not have a transportation supervisor. I'd like to point out that the transportation department is no different than our schools. We have a supervisor principal per se um guiding a trained licensed skilled group

032of workers. Uh that supervisor is also skilled, trained, licensed, and has multiple certifications. He not only has to keep up with state and federal mandates related to the safe transportation of our children, but has to see that the workers adhere to those guidelines and keep them straight. A feat in itself dealing with a bunch of women. Um it is being said that our supervisor's duties will be divided. This has been tried before. It didn't work. As members of the transportation department team, we respectfully request a private meeting with this board to discuss the plan and potential issues. The impact of losing our supervisor will be a cluster. We need your help. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Ms. Bowling. >> [applause] >> Our next speaker is Ms. Linda Smith Greig. Good evening. My name

033is Linda Smith, and I am president and general manager of Virginia's Little Theatre and I am here tonight to speak to the proposed Matthews County Public School Facility Use Manual and Fee Schedule. First, I would like to say thank you. When Donk's Theatre fell in January 2016, my father and I came to those in your position at the time with a plea for help. And it was met with a resounding yes. You gave us hope and a place, and we will forever be grateful for that, especially since the building that was promised to be rebuilt never came to fruition. Last year, we celebrated 50 years in this county, and we have the school system partly to thank for that. 50 years. I would love nothing more than to stay in this county and put on

034shows for another 50 years or someone could. >> [snorts] >> To bring good wholesome entertainment that is affordable for anyone, especially those on a budget, and who isn't on a budget right now? Where young people can come and learn and grow and perform like I did all my life. But this document, as written will not allow that. Whether it pushes us out because we are too regular of a user or because of fees so high we couldn't begin to afford them each show without raising ticket prices which would price out a lot of those people I mentioned on a budget. I was informed last week that my custodial fees for my show next weekend would increase by $480 per show. And according to this new fee schedule, my new fee per show will be over

035$1,100 with reduced hours requested. We, the Opera, the Courthouse Players, Concert by the Bay, you name them, are not lucky enough to be able to afford to build our own multi-million dollar facility in Matthews. That's why 25 years ago we and many others like us partnered with the county to build the one we have, the auditorium. We all worked together to fundraise to outfit the interior of that auditorium. And I know for a fact that all of these organizations who use these facilities would fundraise again if there's a need that isn't in the budget. So, I ask you tonight please don't take it away from us. Don't penalize us just because we are regular users and can't afford our own facility. Don't make us take our business out of the county we love. Help us

036keep our tax dollars here. Help us continue to provide affordable and unique musical and arts experiences for our citizens in our own backyard as well as for those from out of town. Please take another look at that document and those fees. And let's work together to find a solution that would continue to benefit the community as a whole. Because 50 years is not just a Virginia's Little Opera legacy, it's also a Matthews legacy. And I appreciate, we all appreciate any help you can give us to keep it that way. Thank you, Ms. Smith. >> [applause] >> Our next speaker is Lynn Jaeger? Jaeger? Good evening. My name is Lynn Jaeger and I'm from Cobbs Creek. I have volunteered with the Courthouse Players since 1998 after my 7-year-old daughter Kayla was cast in My Fair Lady.

037In 2001, I was instrumental, along with Cherry Hamilton, in coordinating the Courthouse Players to sponsor the Missoula Children's Theatre week-long summer camps. The first camp was held in the elementary auditorium with 60 youth from Mathews, Middlesex, and Gloucester. We continue to sponsor the Missoula summer camps in Mathews and Middlesex during July. Over the past 25 years, we have sponsored a minimum of two camps over 20 summers, sometimes having three, four, or five week-long camps with 60 or more youth involved in each camp. My children, including foster children and now my grandchildren, participate in this wonderful performing arts arts opportunity. Many Mathews families volunteer with Courthouse Players either as cast members, seamstresses, set builders, directors, producers, executive board members, or whatever is needed. Mathews County Public Schools no longer has a drama program. My daughter, who

038graduated from Mathews High School in 2008, had the opportunity to participate in one-act performances, high school plays, and community theater. Why hasn't the school board funded a position for a drama teacher? Courthouse Players has filled this void for many years and has been offering the youth of Mathews the opportunity to engage in performing arts. As listed on the We the Parents website, evidence-based benefits of performing arts include developing oral language skills, building self-confidence and self-esteem, boosting reading achievements, improving social skills, nurturing self-expression, teaching emotional regulation, increasing writing skill outcomes, enhancing self-concept, and promoting sophisticated moral reasoning. In November, as producer, I personally delivered a total of 850 coupons to the three schools in Mathews County for students to attend a Frozen Jr. performance for free. 74 students took advantage of this opportunity. The Courthouse Players

039do not have the theater to perform our musicals in or to hold the Mathews County Missoula summer camps other than the Harry M. Ward auditorium. It would be detrimental to our organization to no longer have the auditorium to use for these wonderful community performing arts productions. The youth of our of your county will not benefit from the skills taught during Missoula camps or through participating in live performances. Please reconsider your policy changes to include continued use of the Harry M. Ward auditorium for our musicals and Missoula summer camps. Mr. Ward's crown jewel was built for the performing arts. Thank you, Ms. Davis. Mr. David Jones. Good evening. Um as a musician myself, and I've lived here now permanently for 30 years. Um Don's Theater has a long history here. And if you've ever got a

040chance to go through the old Don's store and see the pictures up on the wall of the talent that's come through those doors, it's incredible. Mr. Ward was a student of my grandmother's. And we held Mr. Ward in high regard. And I was here when it was being built. And it was supposed to be a community function building as well. To disenfranchise the Courthouse Players and Don's Theater and to make it more difficult on them, I don't know if you've ever seen the parking lot when the Courthouse Players are going, they have their their their shows and then when Don's have it, people get here early, people come downtown, they shop, they eat their their dinner and they go to a show. It's pretty much all we have to offer them during the, you know,

041any any month that rolls over. My grandson uh participated in the Courthouse Players. I've gone to a couple of shows. I'm not a big play play guy, but my wife dragged me along and uh uh and I was amazed at the talent. I really was. So, I would really consider taking that thing, the little document there, and shredding that thing up. And I don't think I think they [clears throat] understand the rising cost, okay? I I don't think that any of them don't understand that things do have to change and costs have to be covered, but not to the extent of $480 for one evening. So, um I I really think that you need to to uh reconsider that. On a second note, I've talked to a couple of the bus drivers. I don't think

042they're asking for a whole lot. Um if you think about it, they spend 2 and 1/4 hours in the morning and 2 and 1/4 hours in the evening bussing the children of Mathews County around, all right? So, during this time span in between that, they have to be you know, standby. They're basically on call. Unfortunately, I served 4 years on the board, so I know how your budget works. And if anything, I'm glad they've asked for meeting, but I'm going to go out on a limb and ask for something else for them. With doing a part-time job like that and having to be on call and ready to go, I think that you should be covering the cost of their health insurance. Okay? I think you can dig deep into your budget. Now, I know

043what's there, and I think it should be free to them because people with good driving records are hard to come by and faithful employees these days are even harder to come by. So, I'd give them a consideration on that to help them um as they've collectively come up here on their own and night voice their opinion, but they're only asking for some accountability on how their day is going to go. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Sir, your time is up. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Our next speaker is Ms. Molly Hoffman. I also am here representing the Courthouse Players, which I have been active in for many, many years, not as many as Lynn Jaeger. And she has made many of the points that I would have made. But I would like to point to the

044interconnections of this community. There are many organizations in this community, and they are all interconnected. Perhaps that hasn't been understood by some people. We depend on each other. Um I also, with that, would emphasize the connection of the school system to the larger county. We are not separate. My children went through Mathews school system. They're out now. I don't have anybody there. But, there is a connection in this county which cannot be overemphasized. The Courthouse Players, which is the group that I'm um representing understood this. That's why they raised so much money, a big contribution, and it was hard work to raise that much money. It's why they provided some expertise in the planning. Now, there is no drama program in the school systems. Those opportunities are provided by organizations outside. When we're talking about

045drama, that's the Courthouse Players. So, of course, we use the high school auditorium. There are shows that you cannot do in small venues. You need a big stage, you need a real stage, and you need lots of seats. We can't just go down the street to the next big auditorium. Do you want us to leave Mathews County? Do you want us not to provide those opportunities? I think that's all I came up here to say. We are part of the community, that means we're part of the schools. The same, I believe, is true of Donks. In different ways, but it's because this is an interconnected community. That's what makes it a community. Thank you. Thank you. The talking. Our next speaker is Ms. Sue Ann Dittmaier Hudgins, Virginia. Uh I'm going to start with a

046little story since a lot of people have said what I was going to say. The second show I ever did back in oh, I don't know, maybe, was here. In this no offense, but crummy place. Where a lot of people couldn't see. Uh my 7-year-old son Lucas was in the show with me. And I remember 7-year-old Lucas and 75-year-old uh George sitting on the steps there and discussing passionately the sword fighting scene in Brigadoon, which my son called the Brig of Doom because he was seven. Uh if you want to think about Matthews, Matthews is all about sports. Everybody loves sports. Well, having community theater is like a sports team. You have a director who picks the team. You have the people who try out for the team. You have the people that rehearse and

047work and practice for the team. And then at the end, you have the big game, which is the musical or the straight play. Well, this is important. The arts are important and they always get swept away. And I'm here to ask you to continue to giving us a reasonable rate to use the auditorium, which Harry Ward wanted and which we the community built the inside of, to keep using it so that we can afford it. We can't afford it, it's not going to happen. And if it doesn't happen, what a shame for those kids whose sport is theater. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Dittmar. Is there anyone else who has not signed up who would like to speak at the podium? Please approach. Provide your name and address. Hello. Um I'm Sean Jaeger. Um I

048live in Susan, Virginia. I'm the current president of the Courthouse Players. I know you heard from my mom already. Um I'm not sure if I sucked her in this time or if she got I don't know. But um >> [clears throat] >> So the basically the stuff I was going to say has already been said, but since I'm the president, I felt I should at least come up here and say I was here. Uh but the one part um the whole part of an executive summary it says um philosophical questions related to what may be requested for use and the duration {slash} repeated of use school division facilities. That seems to be related to the continued use over extended periods of time by organizations in lieu of erecting or securing their own buildings. Um and

049as others have said um you know, anybody who's been here since 2002 knows that the auditorium was built for the students and the community use. Uh there are plaques of donors on the in the hallway that prove this. I know CHP uh Courthouse Players donated around $20,000 and the community donated at least another $145,000 to make it built. As well as our founder, Dick Lusher, he had also assisted in the design of the auditorium to make it more theater-friendly. Of course, at the time we were using this place, as Sue Ann said. So it was a huge upgrade. Um so if it wasn't for the community to there wouldn't be an auditorium. Um, and based on the prohibited activities, it seems that the goal is to stop long-term community use overall. Uh, it seems as

050though the school board wants organizations such as the Courthouse Players, Concert by the Bay, and Donks to stop using the auditorium after 2 to 4 years. I personally I don't understand the problem of organizations using public facilities long-term for the betterment of the community, especially the youth. You know, just these organizations are providing entertainment for the community plus something for people to do. >> [clears throat] >> Um, and just uh, little thing about the Courthouse Players, we are a small nonprofit community theater. Uh, we provide opportunities to the community and more importantly the youth is of this area. In summer we bring the Missoula Children's Theatre to do a week-long camp for 60 children aged 5 to 18. And this camp generally once it goes live it's filled up within like an hour or two.

051Um, we also run at least, you know, one children's musical every single fall. Uh, this past I don't know if you guys got to see it, Frozen Jr. We had 62 cast members ages 5 to 18. I was the director. Personally I spent well over 200 hours on making that what it was. So, we are very dedicated people. It's 100% volunteer. Uh, we love what we do. Um, and it it is sad to me that the Matthews County doesn't have a drama program cuz that is where I started. Uh, right after we had moved here, David Shuber, sure some of you know him, he came up to me he's like, "Hey, Shawn, uh, we uh, doing our musical, we need a few extra guys. You're interested, small part." At that point I didn't understand what

052small part meant. So, I had I had to read through it I learned I had a rap solo and then I had to dress up as a girl and sing like a girl. On that note, I'm sorry, your time is up. >> Okay, well, thank you. >> Thank you. Please don't take it away from us. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Tager. >> [applause] >> Hi. My name's Melody Smith. I'm from the Foster area, Virginia, or Matthews. >> [clears throat] >> But I just wanted to ask a question. I know you can't answer, but it was my understanding that the county is responsible for the utilities and the maintenance for the schools now. And so I'm just wondering why it's up to y'all to raise the rent or decide who and can't, you know, get to

053use it when the county pays for the maintenance and the utilities. And that's just all I wanted to say. I was just wondering. Thank you, Ms. Smith. Please approach. Hi. My name is Beverly. I know some of you might want to call me a come here. Pardon me, ma'am. May you May I have your full name and your location? I beg your pardon. >> May I have your full name and your address or your general area? >> Shoemaker. Okay. Thank you. And the location? My I live on Gwynn's Island. Thank you. Um I am from the big metropolis of Fairfax County. >> [snorts] >> I chose to come here 7 years ago to live to get away from that mess. To live in a quiet little town where I want to live out the rest

054of my life. I love this little town of six or whatever stop signs we have compared to 30,000 traffic lights in Fairfax County. And I'm a from a very musical family. We all sing. We all play instruments. And we're very large. So when I came to this little town I thought, "Oh, there's nothing to do here. Where am I going to go to find my outlet?" I found it. Virginia Little Old Opera. When I found that they were performing at that auditorium, I have not missed a show. I have been to every show. Not to mention, I call my cousins from Charlottesville, they're coming here. I call my sister from Fairfax, she's coming here. I call my daughter from South Carolina, she brings people up. They're spending money in our little town. And that's what

055it's all about. Music brings people together. Whether Whatever your political beliefs are, whatever you like, dislike, music brings people together. So please please allow them to perform at that auditorium because I don't know what I'm going to do, but maybe stand on the street corner and play a guitar and put my little luggage out there to collect money. And that's all I got to say about that. Thank you very much, Ms. Shinebarger. >> [applause] >> Name's Keith Morgan from 120 Callis Field Lane. I was born and raised in Matthews. I was born in Dr. Saddler's office right down at the courthouse. So it don't get no more home than this. Matthews is a community. Everybody pretty much knows everybody. The great thing about DONKS and the Courthouse Players, it gives our kids an opportunity to

056not just experience plays and being in them, we have people from the high school that play in the music, that participate. And we always wanted our kids to have somewhere to go on the weekend, to have something to do besides get in trouble, right? This is what these things give opportunity to. Gets them involved. It helps them be a part of something bigger than they are. And it helps them learn what community and love is all about. Matthews is all about community. We love each other. We care about each other. How can we not let our own people use the facility that we helped build? So, I'm telling you, we need to keep it going. Let the courthouse, let the Don's theater do play there. If you've never been to either one, and I've been

057to both, you're missing a great show. There's no greater band of music anywhere. You can go anywhere, and no better acting than these kids in the plays they put on. It's amazing. You'll discredit yourself if you've never been to one. You'll find out why everybody loves them. So, I'm saying, let's keep it going. I understand a little small raise, maybe 2%, but not no crazy stuff. Everybody knows cost of living, whatever. But, they need an opportunity for these children to have somewhere to go on a weekend, and not only that, but but to participate and be a part of the music and things that are bigger than they are. And we appreciate your consideration. Thank you, Mr. Morgan. Come on up. Good evening. I had not planned to speak tonight. Um I really came to

058really hear. I wanted to come to learn, to find out the thought processes behind this uh this proposal. Why it was coming forward, what what was the reason this this came at this time. But just to I don't want to mimic what people have said cuz I agree with everything that's been said tonight. But I'm from Concerts by the Bay. The name is Judy Bailey Kinker. I'm in Port Haywood. Um we bring concerts, five major concerts to this area in the winter months when the other um season is over. Um we bring people here you don't find in this area. We bring names in. We work with the agent out of Nashville. We bring in Memphis, New York, from California, from Florida. We bring in them in international names that you don't find in this

059area. And then you have to drive to Richmond, northern Virginia, maybe Virginia Beach area. Um we also provide two programs in the schools. Um all programs are free to the students, but we bring the we bring in the Virginia Stage Company to acts in the schools, one in Gloucester and one here in Matthews for the elementary students. Um we have looked for other locations when prices started going up on us. We've looked. Where can we go? Um where is our empty building that can hold us? This is the only location that really can accommodate the size of people that we have and the the size of the stage that the performers need. We strive to keep our ticket prices low. Um we know it's difficult. We know it we want it to be affordable and

060it's hard for us. We have no paid staff. We have a very small board and we do our own fundraising. We do as much as we can to get this have this brought to us every year these these this concert series. Um and also we have negotiated with Westpoint has an excellent program there that's that's that's sponsored by the local by the locale. We also have Rappahannock Community I'm sorry, Rappahannock Concert Series and uh they have a very wonderful program. We were we negotiated with them and we have got if you buy concert tickets with us, you get to go there free and vice versa. We try to spread it throughout the entire middle middle peninsula. We have a good name, a good reputation. We like to keep it that way. And please let us

061stay in Mathews. Thank you. Thank you. And Ms. Judy, I'm sorry, I did not catch your last name. Could you please restate your last name? It's hyphenated. It's Bailey, b a i l e y hyphen Kinker, k i n k e r. Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to approach the podium? Please state your name and residence. Robert Farmer, 44 Stuts Creek Road. I've lived in this county for 61 years. I remember all of the school facilities being used by the public for sports, volleyball, young adults, older adults using the building. We finally built an auditorium in Mathews everybody could enjoy. I understand costs are rising and you need to charge. There's taxpayers in the county that don't want to pay for other people's use, but please put something there reasonable and

062let these organizations continue [snorts] using our facilities. They belong to the citizens of Mathews County. We pay taxes here. We've used them all our life. Donk's Theater, it's been in my family since I was a young man. The Courthouse Players, I've been to their to their plays. Concerts by the Bay, I had an elderly aunt that she lived for those musicals that came there monthly. And to raise the price to to drive these people out or restrict the use of that building that gets used 39 times last year, I think, is ridiculous. To to to charge I mean, Charles has paid the price, but to just to run to raise the price to run them out of Matthews is ridiculous. I My main question to the board is, why all of a sudden did this

063come forward? It's been going on for years, and now all of a sudden it's a problem? I think somebody needs to dig a little bit deeper. Thank you, Mr. Farmer. Who else would like to come up? All right. There being There being none, I will just make a statement here. Although we are not responding at this time, we're so glad you're here tonight, and there will be an opportunity for members to comment on what they've heard during public comment later on in the meeting, according to agenda. Item six, superintendent's informational reports by Dr. Daniel, starting with the attendance update. Uh went to Oh, do we have it? It's fine. Just go to the first slide. If I Can I control it? Okay. We just need the February anyway. Okay. So, just a little bit about

064the um February. So, we've seen an uptick in um absences this year as compared to last year. Um looking into that a little bit further, Ms. Thomas is reporting we've just um flu and cold season is is upon us. Um hopefully we're on the other side of that, but the the schools and the students were hit pretty hard. Um so, we're especially thankful for the NAACP for their donation of kind of cleaning supplies and helping with um some additional Kleenexes and wipes. Um um some Clorox wipes in those classrooms. Um so, tardies again I as we are kind of tracking tardies for this year, this is somewhat of our baseline year as we're tracking tardies. It's still pretty um remarkable to look at the number of students late at the elementary school and then at

065the high school. Um just the um that um that incidence. And so, we can have more conversations once we have a year's worth of data to begin thinking about solutions. How do we address getting kids here on time? Um and attendance plans, um attendance letters. While we're down on attendance letters and down on attendance plans, um then now looking at the the far right column, number of chronically absent students are up again over this time last year. So, we'll need to continue to monitor that and keep a very close eye on that. I think we talked a little bit about it in January and looking at the January data, we typically have um higher atten- higher absenteeism on days returning from snow outages. So, I think that trend continues. I really I I don't I

066can't offer a guess um as to why that pattern exists. Um whether it's folks are still snowed in on those days or um concerned about roads. Um but that's kind of where we are on attendance data for right now. Any questions from the board regarding attendance numbers? I would just say I this continues to be a concern. Uh we do address it. It's a standing item. Um and I know that um Ms. Thomas is doing an outstanding job um with with this difficult issue, but it it remains um a challenge and uh I would say we would be more than open to um creative ideas on how to improve our attendance rates. I mean, we've got to get the kids to school so they can learn. All right. Item 6.2 Uh um Madam Chair >>

067Okay, sorry. Oh, I'm sorry, Mrs. Hodges. Um for the uh purposes of people who um are here maybe for the first time, just so they're aware that our schools the federal government measures our school on chronic absenteeism. That's why it's such a focus area. Um and as one of the components that um that that again we are measured as not just the SOL test, they now added um chronic absenteeism. Thank you, Madam Chair. Right. Plus, we know it's it's the right thing. We know it's We know it's right thing to >> We do know. You know, it's it's for many students not being here, you don't learn. Yes. >> Most students, I should say. True. Item 6.2, the financial report from Mrs. Hundley, our CFO. >> Good evening. All right, through the end of February,

068we have expended 56% of our operating budget. We're continuing to monitor the ESS, the substitute line. And also, with the rising cost of fuel, we'll be monitoring that cost also. Um overall, for the overall budget, we expended 60% through February. And just to give you an update as far as hopefully by the end of next week, the governor will sign the caboose bill, which is the um last year in the um biennium. So, hopefully she'll sign it by next week, so we'll have an update on that. So, the final numbers for fiscal year 26 as far as revenue from the state will be determined. And also, at the end of March, we also have our um ADM confirmed also. Right, March 30th, I believe is the snapshot. Yes. >> correct? March 31st. Okay. March 31st,

069okay. Right. Any questions? Questions? There appear to be none. Thank you very much, Ms. Huntley. We're on track, okay. >> Item 6.3, the reorganization of Mathews Elementary School and Thomas Hunter Middle School from Dr. Daniels. We'll be having this as a standing item as well at our meetings. So, a little bit um about that. We're kind of in a lull right now as we're prepping for um SOL tests. Um however, in terms of term contract negotiations, we've been back and forth with architectural and engineering firm on um finalizing term contract. I'd hoped to have that term contract ready for board review. Um but we'll definitely have that by the April board meeting. Um the purpose of that term contract is to have um, to not have to go out to RFP every time we want

070to have some sort of work done. The primary goal is then with this first term is working alongside the county on future CIP and bond pulls to look at this campus and making it operate better as a um, pre-K through seven campus. We've had conversations in the past about athletic facilities at the high school. Um, we've had some conversations with the county about space here at Thomas Hunter um, for emergency operations center perhaps. And so are there ways to leverage some of the space within the school division um, to free up or improve services on the county side and continuing that partnership that we've um, been forging over the last couple years. So, the goal is to with that term contract then get some facilities studies to take place to get estimated cost, estimated ideas

071as to how this space could look different um, as a pre-K through seven. Um, how we can utilize space here for school board offices, that emergency services um, space for the county, etc. Um, so that's moving forward. I've sent it they sent a draft to me, I sent it to our attorney, revisions, revisions back and forth. Um, so I think I think we're in the last um, part of that. Um, as we are also in um, budget season and we'll talk a little bit more about budget a little bit later. But as we look at um, absorbing some of our staff positions that will then impact master schedule decisions, especially on this campus as they're thinking through integrating sixth and seventh grades um, requirements, state requirements for what has to happen in middle school, what

072offerings need to occur in middle school. So, those historically aren't as familiar on the elementary school setting. So, we're working through some of those nuances both in staffing, licensure comes into play, and then also master schedule and options. So, working through that, we may end up having to, based on again some of those staffing and reductions and not filling positions, we may need to share more positions with the high school. So, then we have to coordinate some of the master schedule on this campus then with the master schedule in the high school campus and having all those schedules coordinate with our regional partners for ROTC or Chesapeake Bay Governor's School and welding and the things things along you know, our regional partners. So, we're working through those. Um, the last piece in terms of that

073is master schedule building well, the the turnover within power school. So, we um, initially intended for next year's school calendar to be approved tonight. I'm holding that until the April. We'll definitely need to approve that calendar in April, but we wanted to look at again any sort of pay raises, contracts, things along those lines for the number of work days within that contract excuse me, within that calendar. So, we've just held that for one more month, um, but that will impact some of that power school rollover and and planning process that needs that will start as soon as we approve that calendar for building next year's master schedule within that computer program. If that makes sense. Any questions? Let me address that. Moving to item 6.4, information for the school board? All right, so um,

074field trips, um not a lot in in the way of field trips being scheduled, so. Um Thomas Hunters, um you have the individual school financial reports that are available um announcing the grades K through 2 science instructional materials adoption timeline. Um so, pushing that out so the board and the community is aware of that um textbook adoption timeline. The K-12 math textbook adoption timeline. So, the math adoption timeline um that adoption of materials is pretty similar to what we went through with um the literacy textbooks through VLA. While as not as regimented as the VLA process, the math process is relatively similar. Um this is timeline from the state is delayed. Um so, we've been waiting a year for the textbook um information to come, so um we're I don't know if eager's the right

075word to say about any textbook adoption process, but um we I I think having an adopted um K-12 um well, having adopted curriculum in math is going to benefit our school division tremendously. Just having consistency aligned with new standards. So, getting through [clears throat] that is going to be um helpful. May I just add a note on that, just so that uh people who are not reading um the document, just so the community knows we will have sample materials available for public review and comment for 30 days beginning April 13th. April 13th. And that is going to be on the K 2 science and K 12 math. And a protocol for participating that will be forwarded and made available on the website, I believe. >> 10th, that information will be released on the website, the

076Facebook page, and via Blackboard Connect message. Fantastic. So, April 10th, we'll have all of the information needed to do that. Thank you very much. That's a really important process, and it's a great opportunity for the community to see the materials that are up for adoption. Yes. Um, in reviewing the um financial reports, I'm wondering if um if there is ever a um a review of accounts that haven't been used for two to three years, and if we can close those, or if it's an account that has funding in it, and it doesn't look like it's going to be used, if that can be transferred to something else, because it over the years, there are things that have surfaced that the money has just stayed right there, and nothing's been done with it. Um and I

077just it'd be nice to clean it up. Right. I agree. And and I think we can um go through that with a fine-tooth comb. We've done a little bit of that with time to time, I know. Um recently, Thomas Hunter went through that process and moved some funds around to kind of close out some older accounts and move those into general funds. Um I'll defer to Ms. Huntley as the in terms of the regs and having her oversee all of that, but my understanding is the purpose for that account needs to be as as honored as possible, and as you're moving funds into to other areas. Um so, we can we can take a look at that process and try to kind of streamline something that's you know, for the club that's no longer in

078existence, what do you do with uh the $15 that's left in that account? Stuff like that. >> you know, at least one, maybe there was more that was a like a memorial for you know, someone who's passed on. >> [snorts] >> And um maybe there was some intent for that, but if um there is no plan, if that can be rolled over, again, to your point, to honor whatever the original purpose um was for those funds as funds as close as possible. Okay. All right. All right, facilities use manual. All right, this is again, kind of going through this a little bit. This is a draft. Um knowing this is um has has the potential to impact the community, wanted to have more conversation about it. This while we we began this conversation at least

079um I think it was last summer's work session, we had initial conversations um during that work session about the facilities use process. At that time, I think a concern was aired with a board member about inconsistent rates being charged for usage of the auditorium. So, we picked up again that conversation at our last work session to discuss um looking at the consistency of how we were enforcing the fee schedule, how we were enforcing the the use request. Um and for the the folks in the audience, we also had conversations about um what exactly do we rent out? So, conversations about buses, conversations about different different facilities within the school system, um by whom, how often, how regularly do does the school division kind of want to be in the rental business or do we not

080want to be in the rental business? And I'm hearing like I don't know that we want to be in the rental business, but I think we want to be in the community services business. So um So then we had some conversation about nonprofit, for-profit. Is there a difference? Does it matter? May you know, it may not it may not matter, but in this draft um based on some of the conversations that we had, trying to parse out should there be again, going back to the rate differentials being charged, should there is there should there be a rate differential for for-profit entities versus nonprofit entities? Do again, going back philosophically do we as a school division do we allow for-profit entities to um profit off of a community resource? And is that is that something that

081we're okay with? um And maybe that we are. So um So the first stab at trying to look at a revised facilities use manual is kind of what's what's before you. So I'll go over the executive summary a little bit um to kind of highlight some of those things. So I think over the last year we've heard of the need for multiple repairs at the auditorium. I think last year we spent a lot of time talking about the leaking roof. um The damage then that was causing to the stage floor. Um we've got numerous lights out. um I know we're looking at utilities fees. And again, who I think the question was asked about um utilities and who's paying the utilities. So, the the county currently pays the utilities for the school divisions cuz as

082they're redoing the lights and the savings, part of that plan was to then for the county to recruit recoup some of that savings. Um So, the next piece is inconsistent application of existing facilities use guidelines. So, some organizations were charged were required to have custodians. Some organizations were not. Some organizations paid a flat fee. Some organizations paid the hourly fee. This This manual hasn't changed any of the hourly fees that were already established in the fee schedule. What the proposal was was an attempt to establish consistency with how we're charging people and what the expectations are. So, to be frank, the folks that we've heard about tonight, they all paid different for the use of the auditorium. Um there's some agreements, some memoranda MOUs from years ago, some agreements, um and we can talk about

083and have conversations about what the appropriate hourly rate is. I I tend to believe that we need to have a school like a custodian on premises when it's being used to main- maintain facilities, um to for somebody to have access to um restrooms and the cleaning supplies. Another piece that has changed recently is us contracting out with our custodial company services. So, part of that contract is the equipment is part of that company. Um that contract includes the paper products, the cleaning supplies, all of those things. So, keeping in mind how how that works and some of the you know, the legal parameters of that, I think we as a board entity responsible for renting out to be consistent and fair about what we are charging various groups. And as we struggled with that in

084the work session, we kind of had a conversation like was leaning towards for-profit and not-profit. And do we want to divide up how that works? So, that's why it went a flat fee, my proposal first draft, was a flat fee for nonprofits and following the established hourly rate for for-profits. But to be consistent on requiring custodial coverage for those events. Um there are other entities who have used the school facilities, who haven't been charged at all, and have only paid um other folks, um retired folks or kind of part-time folks to to provide that custodial coverage. So, the biggest issue, the desire in no way is to at any point to force anybody out. The desire was to provide consistency and to make sure that um like the community uses the currently the community uses

085the auditorium more than the school system does. Okay? And so, it's making sure that that resource is is maintained and is appropriate for the next person who's coming in to use that, whether it's the high school band or Donks or Courthouse players. So, we've got to make sure that the fee use um is is appropriate to be able to to make the appropriate repairs, which I don't think the repairs have been done historically. And so, we're like a lot of places um within the school division is is at a deficit and we're trying to get caught up on many, many, many of these things. And I don't say that the auditorium is in disrepair because anybody abused it cuz I don't I don't think that's the case at all. I think of 20 years of

086use and a lack of um preventative maintenance and attention to detail um has taken a toll on that. And so, there's um there challenges to get that get that up to speed and up to snuff. So, what I was attempting to do too in the draft is set up a priority then for scheduling the auditorium. And in doing this, I looked at several other school divisions to get it what do small communities do similar to us? So, I looked at West Point. I looked at Richmond County. I looked at Middlesex. What do um what do you large communities do? So, I looked at um Spotsylvania and pulled theirs. Looked at Halifax. Halifax really isn't that large, but looking at kind of what other other places do and so, what fits for Matthews and how do

087we how do we make that make that work? How do we continue the things? Um so, many of the places have a priority listing for who does what. Um who gets scheduled first and um gets first right of first refusal kinds of things. Um we looked at I looked at um fee schedules. If a school division opens it up for for-profit entities, they typically have a differentiated pay schedule. Um not every place opens it up for for-profit entities. Um so, that's again, that's a philosophical thing that I think we can continue to to discuss. Um And then a few of the divisions have kind of the regular use or one you know, kind of one-time use. And in many of the cases those school divisions have in there renting of the school facilities um was

088discouraged. Um Did just try to discourage long-term use um in lieu of building one's own facility. Honestly, typically that's um done for churches. So, not a lot of school division auditoriums get used for um church startups or in the um acci- church catches fire, flood damage, water damage, something along those lines. You need a temporary home to house the congregation. And I think most of the times school divisions um fill in and try to honor that request. Um but I think it's attempting to prevent um other use on a regular long-term basis in lieu of that organization finding permanent housing, if you will, for their for their show or their business or their um their organization. I think our situation is what we're grappling with tonight is different. So, like being able to build a

089a theater somewhere on your own is is is a challenge. And these are community services that are provided. Um there's a broad sort of benefit to the community that comes from that. Um but I think one could also say there's a broad benefit to the community for having churches. So, how do we where do we how do you legislate um some of that? That honors what's been happening, but also like gets us moving into the future, provides consistency, um and honestly some clarity. So, I mean as a board we mean we can like I can go back and take out the you know the cap on on years if that's the board's um desire. Um we can talk about um you know custodians and whether custodians are required. Um but I would encourage the board

090to um like provide some guidance on how we are going to be consistent because it varies from one organization being charged $275, another organization being charged $785. So, if that's that's not right. And so, I think that's where we have to figure out um you know what are the what are the rules of the game? What are the rules for the facilities use piece so that we can continue with um providing the service, providing opportunity to use a community resource. So. Thank you, Dr. Daniel. Members, do you have any comments or questions for Dr. Daniel on this topic or any of the topics? Um >> I have one one quick comment. Yes, Mr. Morgan. Yeah, just one very quick comment. I know a lot of people have been very concerned about this issue over the

091last several days and weeks. And I think I can speak for the entire board in saying that no one up here is trying to stop curtail the community's use of that auditorium. That's not the way that I see things. That being said as Dr. Daniel mentioned, we were trying to get things on a more consistent fee use fee. Whether it's going to be hourly or by the event or just exactly what is the the best way to do that. And also to establish some guidelines that apply to every group or organization that uses it. But I've not heard anyone say or or indicate in any fashion that we want to stop the community from using it. I've not heard that. Thanks, Mr. Morgan. Mrs. Hodges. Yeah, I'm going to save my comments for the 9.0,

092but but I do want to just point out probably that we've discussed in some of our work sessions, not everybody that has used school facilities have left it in the shape that they have [clears throat] found it. True. At the at a bare minimum. I just I you know, no one here just saying that that has been an issue. So then school staff come in and and they have to clean up on a Monday morning or whenever. And so to your point, it's the consistency it's making sure it can be ready for school use the next day and how do we achieve that? But I'll save my comments the rest of comments for for later. Thank you. I am I won't do the same. Okay. I'll just say a few things here. So, um you

093know I I I love the organizations um that that use the facilities and and the mission is not to stop the regular use. Um I think one of the main reasons we had a discussion on this at our last work session was we don't want to cause that to be a deficit in our budget. And um as my own power bill was the highest I'd ever seen it recently. And I'm I'm so I maintain that any fees that we charge Yeah, consistency is good, but they also should cover our costs because and I would think taxpayers would expect us to do that cuz our mission is student achievement. And um I worked here a long time before I served on this board and I don't think there was any school year where I thought, I

094have everything I need to do my job. And we, you know, don't want we we don't want the fees needed to just help us recover the costs of of the use so that we're not taking from students and what they need what teachers need to instruct the students. So, yes, but I I don't want to see any any of our regular users you know our mission's not to kick anybody out, but you know, we do expect people that use our building to be good stewards of it. You know, so and we should probably reevaluate the fees from time to time as costs increase and go up. So, that's what I'm I'll probably say a little more about that later, but that's all I have for now. Great. Thank you. All right, is there anything more

095to be said from Dr. Daniels' informational reports? Dr. Daniels, do you have anything Is that mine or yours? else? I do not. All right. Thank you. Moving on to item seven, school board informational reports. You'll see 7.1, we have school board conferences and webinars. This is our usual um plethora of events that are producing or providing high-quality professional development for us. Please take advantage of those as we are required to do. Item 7.2, board and committee reports um from members and the superintendent along with our attendance at Board of Supervisors meetings, which our schedule is fleshed out, I will be there. I will be there on Thursday, Mr. Morgan, April 16th, Ms. Bohannon Stewart, the 21st, Mrs. Hodges on the 18th of June. Is there anyone who has a report from a board meeting or

096anything uh that they've attended? I know Ms. Bohannon Stewart, you already you did speak about Yes. >> the Governor's School. Um would now be an appropriate time to to tell to talk about a few school events that I was so impressed with? Or is that not? Sure. Yeah. So, um I attended the math night recently as Ms. Elward had said, and um was very impressed with that, and it reminded me of a you know, another event that I had attended, a bingo night. And you know, both of these events I expected to have a good time. That was my only expectation. And and um both of those events just exceeded my expectations. The students were running those events, and that's just great to see. So, yeah. Excellent. Excellent. Good. I agree. That's what it's all

097about. >> Mhm. All right, moving to item eight. Um, may I interject? Yes. Make a plug for the um committee, the committee of two with Mr. Morgan and and myself as far as policy review. We are meeting, I would say almost regularly to continue to review our policies. Um, and the fruits of our labor have been shown tonight in the consent agenda. Um, and we will continue to plug along and and um review those policies. I apologize for not bringing that up. I depended on that. It's a huge job. Um uh I appreciate your efforts so much and it is was indeed shown on the consent agenda how much progress has been made and you two you've exceeded the board's expectations on that. So, um we'll continue to work through those. It's important that we

098review properly and on a timely basis and that we are compliant with all of that um with those policies. So, thank you for that heavy lifting. And I will say I um I found it valuable to make sure that I'm learning things. Like I didn't know that piece was there. I didn't know that. So, it's it's been very valuable as a board member to really understand our policies and if we need to do questions some. Thank you. Thank you for volunteering. That is a These are voluntary roles. Yes. Uh one note, we have had some questions about sale 250 with the school system and this afternoon um I was corresponding with um Mary Beth Burrus who has taken that on for the schools along with a number of our teachers that are doing projects and

099there will be a piece coming out in the Gazette Journal in the near future from Mrs. Burrus um to just update you all. Uh living in this wonderful community, this maritime community we have here. Um it's a great opportunity for our children to take part. And we have adopted a ship. Um it is the Virginia, which I believe was down at William's Wharf not too long ago, a few years ago. But anyway, they are doing projects and they're corresponding with the ship's captains and crew prior to their coming in to uh Norfolk in June, when school is out, but we will be able to take some of those children down there if their parents themselves don't want to go, uh we're going to be able to arrange that. So, just a heads-up, keep an eye

100for the Gazette Journal. Thank you. Great. Thank you, Ms. Diggs. That's wonderful. All right, moving on to item eight, we have one action item tonight, item 8.1. It's the adoption of the 2026-2027 operating budget for Mathews County Public Schools. May I have a motion? I make a motion to adopt the 2025-2026 operating budget for Mathews County Public Schools as listed. It should be 26-27. Yeah, so it needs to be 26-27 operating budget. It's just wrong on the >> Ms. Hogge, um the reading of the recommended action should be uh 2026-2027. Oh, yes, thank you. May I amend that? Yes, please. Um I may I amend my action, my recommended action to um state to adopt the 2026-2027 operating 2027 operating budget for Mathews County Public Schools as listed. Thank you, Mrs. Hodges. Do we have

101a second? I second that. Thank you, Ms. Diggs. Is there any discussion? Yes. Yes, Mr. Morgan. >> Um Clarification, what is the final figure that we are about to vote on? So, this budget is based off of um I think the the contentious part has been kind of what what the local funding is. So, um this budget is based off local funding of 8.725 million um in local funding. So, I know the the county is still sort of wrestling um and trying to figure out what what works for their budget and for the community. I do anticipate um a couple things happening. So, we'll get a finalized number from the county I think next week. Um we'll hopefully by the end of this week we'll get updated information from the state on the state budget.

102That may stretch out a little bit later. Um so, I do anticipate in um April time frame needing to look at an amended um budget based on those final numbers, but this is a lot closer um to what we anticipate the final budget being than where we started with um in January with a 9.4 um 9.4 um projected county allocation to us. Okay, so this vote will be taken on 8.725 million uh provided by the county of Mathews. That's correct. Okay. Included in that number, is there any provision for hiring a transportation director. In this budget, it does not. This budget has us um diverting some of those responsibilities um to existing staff. The goal in getting to the number um that we needed to was to absorb positions um that were going to be

103vacant. Um So, um what's we've had some conversations with different board members as we thinks um to then later um in a couple months, couple weeks, then look at them prioritizing filling that position instead of um what we're doing. So. But at this moment, there's no >> At this moment, we are not um we're not budgeting to fill that position at this moment. Okay. Thank you, sir. You're welcome. Yes, Mrs. Honeycutt. Um Dr. Daniel, by um Well, actually to to Dr. Daniel and um Dr. Gibbs, that if we adopt a budget as eight relying on 8.725 was it 8.725 um expectation from county funds, then there's it seems to me that there's absolutely no pretty minimal expectation that they would even award the 9.1. If they're saying that we adopt a budget that we can

104do, we can make it we we've adopted that budget. So, that all automatically, it seems to me, dismisses the fact would dis- would it dismiss the fact that they might award more than that? I don't know I don't know that I can speak to the the county. I mean, I just >> that's my question. You know, I don't want to I don't I have great difficulties because of the things you just addressed. Um because of the transportation, many many things. Those are just two of them. We just know consequentially what will happen at an 8.725 budget. And and the toll it will take um from my perspective on our our primary mission of academic achievement. And and in that the dispersing of job responsibilities, so the continuity would be less. And there's much more Yeah,

105I mean That's just the cream of That's just the top. >> I know that the school division school division's facing challenges with this budget, but I know that the county is also going through um challenges in other departments and um shortfall of revenue state going to the county as well. So, I I don't um I think during this year's budget process, I think we've done a pretty good job of not um pointing fingers or blame cuz it is just statewide, countywide. It is a very very tight budget year, and so we um we had I think had hoped for level funding at that 9.1 level from last year. Um that doesn't seem to be um in the cards for the county right now to be able to fund at that level without without some some

106tax increase based on their projections. So, we've again filling in everybody in the audience. We've had conversations about 8.5 um in allocations from the county, 8.7. Um we had some conversation about a 8.73, so we went with a 8.725. Um and again, trying to um continue to find ways from the school division's perspective, what Um, Kale, can you pull up the um Is this the Okay. So, here's I guess part of the part of the challenge is so in blue was our anticipated increase in revenues. So, looking at that a pay raise 1% plus a step for employees, not teacher assistants, was 176,000. Um, trying to provide additional support for the teacher assistants, so we looked at 5% plus a step. That's approximately $71,000. The the biggest impact to our expenditures um, is Sentara, well,

107the health care costs. So, we part of this budget also has us leaving the Sentara health care plan and having to move everybody over to Anthem. So, because the Anthem plan only increases $258,000. If we stick with Sentara, that number is closer to $458,000 in additional expenditures. So, we have to figure out too how much of that can the county absorb, how much of that then do we pass on to employees as part of that additional expenditures. What we are forecasting in terms of reduced revenue is our state revenue is going down $325,665 based on the projection that we got in December. Federal revenue is going down about $9,700. Um, the local revenue from the current FY26 allocation to the 8.725 is a reduction of $423,400. So, the the the gulf between those things is

108about $1.2 million that we're trying to figure out how do we how do we get these these pieces aligned. Um so, what what we looked at then is kind of running through a list of how are we how are we meeting some of that that shortfall. Okay? Part of that part of that strategy is trying to reduce some of the expenditures. Um the revenue piece is difficult as a school division to change revenue. The only thing that we can do is ask the county for more or get more kids. Okay? Um so, those are a list of the ways that we're looking to um meet meet this loss of revenue and then also reduce some of those expenditures. So, prior to even coming into the budget season, we reduced two FTEs and that's from the

109consolidation. Okay? So, then we're trying to reduce two more F full-time people to part-time people. So, right now in order to meet the budget, 75% of the health insurance costs are we're going to have to pass on to employees. So, that may end up being um a a significant impact on employees in terms of their their take-home pay. The other piece that we can look at is as other positions become available, absorbing those positions and we can have a conversation about transportation director, but then we can also talk about putting some of that savings into health insurance to lessen the impact of a 10.2% Anthem increase. Sentara's increase was 26%. Okay. And our division costs for health insurance are about 2.2 million dollars. So, that's a significant So, you know, as we like we talk

110about costs, health insurance I mean everybody knows like health insurance just is massive. So, So, again, that's kind of where, you know, how we're looking to most of the strategies and how we get there. Um again, total break revenue breakdown by fund and things along those lines, but um I think the first two slides sort of help help describe a bit sort of where we are um in terms of the the budget challenges. Um so, Dr. Daniel, would you do a short recap on the increased LCI as well that we're facing and help the citizens understand that? >> Sure. So, every every two years the state recalculates the local composite index. The local composite index is a formula the state uses to determine a locality's ability to fund the schools. Within that formula, it looks

111at student enrollments. It looks at um um income levels of the citizens in the community, and also looks at property tax values. And there's some formula and part of it's 20% 40% of this, etc. etc. So, our local composite index went up seven seven percent. So, we um from memory we I think we went from a 0.63 to a 0.69, I believe. Somewhere around in there. So, I may have those numbers slightly off. So, 0.59 0.59 to 0.66. Thank you. So, that the higher your number, the higher your local composite index, indicates the higher the abilities, the localities ability or expectation to fund. Um so, that puts a greater it it's a double-edged sword for Matthews because we have fewer kids and the state funds us at less per kid. Okay? So, it's um that's

112that's part of the challenge. So, our local composite index in Matthews has gone up for each biennium, I think each of the last four biennium has continued to creep and creep and creep and creep. So, we're probably in the top quartile of local composite index in the state. So, the way the state sees it, we're within the top 25% of counties having an ability to pay for kids or fund schools. So, that has an impact on less state revenue coming into um into Matthews per kid. Okay? So, then that leaves more of a burden on the locality to then fund. This is helpful. Thank you. Thank you. I I would like to say that um this is a very difficult budget year at the budget work session with the the joint um with Board of

113Supervisors. Um I was very concerned in terms of functionality at an 8.725 even request. Um functionality in terms of ability to implement curriculum with fidelity and provide a continuity of instruction. So, in other words, retaining qualified teachers who are very, very skilled at what they do to be in front of our students. That matters so much. I agree with Mrs. Hodges the concern of having uh fewer employees have to shoulder more responsibilities, basically. But, I understand the problem that we're in. When we listen to the county, we hear the difficulties that they are facing. So, this is a very difficult situation. Uh if I do not feel comfortable with this number, but I fear this is the best number that we can attain. So, I would like to ask for that. I don't think there

114is a 9.1 in our in our cards. I I just don't think it's it's there. We need that. We would benefit from having that in terms of our priority of student achievement and all of the things that it takes to get that. But, I don't think that's [clears throat] realistic. So. And and I um I even hesitated to make the motion because I have such great concerns that um a needs-based budget for our school division continued to just level at level. And as many people pointed out tonight, we've not had a drama teacher for years. And that's I'm just I'm just again skimming the surface. We don't have chorus at middle and high school. And those consequences are from just lack of funds to be able to do to hire that um those positions. But,

115I have great difficulty um agreeing to a budget that I I've fully believe will um not move us forward as far as um student achievement. I have grave concerns about whether it can do that. For all the reasons you identified, Dr. Gibbs. >> I agree. Any other statements? Um We're good. Okay. One point I'd like to make to the public here is when we had our joint budget session with the Board of Supervisors. I personally felt that they were hearing us as a board and our needs and what the short shortfall of 8.725 would do for us pop very possibly because we have been so challenged in the past to get teacher salaries up to achieve the student achievement that these kids deserve and those teachers are trying so hard to get for them. And

116I I felt um that they heard and they want to do more for us. Not that they know that they can, but that is why I seconded the motion because I I am hoping and praying that our budget will increase. That's it. Thank you, Ms. Dicks. Ms. Bohannon-Stewart, do you have any comments at this time? Um I I share many of the concerns that that um you and Ms. Hodges and probably all of us have. Um I uh I do worry about, you know, having to redistribute you know, duties and um um You know, cuz I I think we we have a workforce that um in our school system that is probably feels overworked, overstressed, overextended um and you know, I've I've I've been in their shoes um just a year ago. So, but um

117I would like to ask one more, but Yeah, I We're in a tough spot this year. Tough spot. Yes. Increasingly a tough spot every year, it seems like. Mhm. Any more comments or questions or discussion? Any more discussion? There being none, I'll call for the vote. All those in favor, say I. I. I. I. All those opposed, say nay. Nay. Nay. Motion passes. Thank you, board. It's very difficult. Yes. Item nine, citizen comments on items discussed during the meeting. Do we have any citizens who would like to approach the podium for an additional? Okay, we'll just one at a time. Let me get my clock ready. Go ahead. Mr. Jones. If you could just wait for just 1 second. Sorry. >> Don't start my time. How you all doing? I think you started. You better

118go. I appreciate you. All right, so number one, let's talk about the LCI. I'm going to touch on that real quick. Your slide did not have your contribution from the state. So, for the folks that are here tonight that want to know how this actually works, I spent 4 hours up at the state making sure I understood it. I understood it perfectly. Whatever the state decides in money wise to give the school system that right now they're telling you that they're going to give you 34% of what the budget that they think that you should be operating under. Call them yourself. Take the time. When I was on the board, I took the time to understand it. If you don't understand it, you need to go understand it. It's not a criticism, but if you

119don't understand it, that's how it works. The state has all of these people that get paid a lot of money to sit up there and say, "Here's how much we think that you're going to need based upon your cost and your student size and your your student population, okay? So, with the LCI here being now going from 0.59 to 0.66, I've often told y'all you're admin heavy, heavy, heavy, heavy for the amount of students that you have here. Thank you. Okay. >> Please respect the speaker. Thank you. But ma'am, You're fine. Oh, thank you. Okay. >> So, with that, sometimes when you got too many chiefs and not enough Indians, the Indians get left out, but they're still there to handle the burden of the work. Okay? So, sometimes the uppers need to step back

120and say, "I don't need any money." Us private business people do it in in hard times, okay? We do it all the time. You don't get a cookie. You You shouldn't be raising your salaries if things aren't improving. If things were improving, we wouldn't be losing students continually. Some of us not y'alls fault. Got it. All right, so with that being said, the reason the number wasn't posted up there because anyone that can do basic arithmetic and understands percentages can figure that out on their own. It's real simple. Whatever the state gives you is 34% of your overall budget. They're telling you well in advance what your budget should be. I'm sorry, that's the way it is. So, hiring CFOs and then standing up here saying, "Well, now the fuel is going to impact it."

121I've been through 4 years of watching the fuel float up and down and also watch the surplus of money at the end of 2 years with level funding because somebody got creative. All you got to do is get creative. The citizens can't handle anymore. Okay, with the amount with the population just declining the citizens have said, you know, "We've had enough of being taxed." So, I and I'm going to urge the the board of supervisors. But that number 8. 8.7 doesn't reflect the fact that you're not paying for the maintenance. Thank you, Mr. Jones. Is there another person who'd like to approach the podium? He said Okay. Okay. >> [snorts] >> Please state your name and address. Thank you. My name's Yvonne Rich. I live in Port Haywood, Virginia. I've lived here about about 27

122years. Which of 24 I've been a bus driver, a community involved person. My all of my children and foster children have gotten various scholarships through different programs in our community, wrestling, sports, and all this. And I've watched all this dwindle. Now, I'm sitting here, first time ever showed up here. I'm I'm I'm watching our budget dwindle, our mixed scores dwindle. When when I moved here, we were at a A and B. We're at steady C and dropping. And that's because we do not have the support staff, whether it be a bus driver, whether it be a teacher's aide, that is paid for what they're worth. Um in the budget, there's all these cuts and everything like that, and no fault to you guys that work in the school board office, but you make too much

123money. Compared to I mean compared to a good leader or leaders show progress. And what did I say? Progress and what? Remember? I can't remember. But show progress and and and retention. There's no progress in our scores, and we're losing good teachers. We're losing good supervisors. We're cutting back on people that are overworked. We're trying to push our community out of a building that was built for the community. We've got to start thinking about who this county is and who we want to be, because people move here because who we are. If we change that, they don't want to live here. We don't get taxes. We don't pay salaries. We've I mean as a group effort, and I'm just I'm speaking for everybody. If we don't start putting our pants on the same way and

124go go same direction, there's not going to be a Mathews. We're going to be absorbed by Gloucester or whoever else. That's it. Thank you very much. This Rich. This Yvonne Rich. Yvonne Rich. Yvonne Yvonne 120 Callis Field again. This may not be part of what you want to hear, but you brought it up about the auditorium. And I just want to say that and I'm not part of Don's Theater. Uh uh I love going there and I'm sure I can say the same thing about um the other groups that use it, but I have come early before and the auditorium's been so dirty that we've had to clean it before we could let people come in. And I know for a fact that afterwards there's three or four people that stay afterwards to clean it

125to make sure it's cleaner than it was when we got there. I've personally cleaned up and there's been dust bunnies so big I know they had grandchildren underneath of there. I'm just telling you. It it hadn't been cleaned for a long time. And I brought vacuum cleaners and have killed some of them vacuum cleaners try to clean up, but we leave it cleaner than it was when we found it. And and I believe with they are I say we, but I believe they pay for a custodian. I don't know if that person exist, but we clean it before when we get there and we clean it when we leave so it's better when we leave. So I'm just letting you know everybody don't I think most of the people that use it that belong to

126the county love the auditorium, love the use of it and will leave it cleaner than when they found it because they want to take care of it it's it belongs to us. We want to take care of what belongs to us. Thank you. Thanks, Mr. Morgan. Is there anyone else who'd like to approach the podium? Mr. Tager? Hello again, Sean Jager. Um Susan Virginia. I was going to actually just reference some of the maintenance stuff. You talked about the roof leaking. I've been performing on that stage since 2002 when it was built and as far as I know, it's always leaked. I'd say go back to the contractor, but it's probably a little too late for that. Um but in that I know has the water getting onto the stage floor has damaged that cuz

127it's just a pine floor. Well, I did just learn it's a floating floor on top of rubber, so it might not be that bad to actually replace cuz from an article from when it it opened I just read. Um also the [clears throat] curtains in there are kind of getting dry rotted from the water leaking as well and you know, with cordless pliers we have like the rear curtain we actually completely flipped around. We've added ropes to it so you don't have to pull on the curtain. Uh the lighting system I know Mr. Morgan I talked to you last summer about that. Um up on the catwalk there's about 30 lights. 20 out of 30. I think 10 of them are operational and seven of those are working because I brought other equipment in to

128make them work. So the the sockets up there is really what's the only thing bad with them. Fortunately, those lights have been discontinued and you can't get the housings. But I know myself um and George Rhodes he took care of the lights a lot for a long time. I've probably changed 50 to 60 bulbs up there. Just every time we go in there, the first thing I do is I turn all the lights on and see which ones are working. And every time every time when we do something it's there's less and less that are actually operational, but if we could just get the sockets for those, I think they're about 20 bucks a piece. We'd be willing to swap them out to get all those operational again. Since we are you know, one of

129the big users of them, but that would also help other organizations. It'd help the band out because I helped Mr. Givens with the lights up there, too, and it's it's been fun. They try to get everyone lit so they could be seen. So you know, like like us we're willing to I know definitely myself I'd be willing to to volunteer my time to help maintain some of this stuff and bring it back up. Um and then maybe that could be a separate discussion when it comes to pricing and stuff on what we can do to help keep the venue operational so it works for us and works for the rest of the community. Uh so that's pretty much the only thing I want to say. Thank you so much. Thank you, Mr. Taylor. That was

130helpful. Thank you. Hi, I'm Jackie Knight. I am living in Port Haywood. I've been driving a bus come the end of March for 20 years both here and in other county. And to hear we might not have a transportation department head is sort of scary. Where I drive at, it is flooded. We're talking water up to here. One thing Mr. Clyde does is he drives my road every morning that it's flooded to tell me if it's safe for me to go down that road. I'm going to need somebody to tell us can we go down those roads? Can we not go down those roads? It's scary whether you keep Mr. Clyde or bring somebody else in. We do need somebody in charge of us to help us. Also want another personal note. This is the

131first time last year we got our paychecks and you guys cut us separate from the teachers' pays. They got a I think 6% raise. We got a 3% raise. That's sad because that means we will never equal any more amount of money other than low. And I don't know if you're aware of this fact, people around here, the bus drivers have to go to Saluda for a drug test. Drive all the way to 17. We don't get paid for that. That's 40 minutes there. That's another half hour, 45 minutes there, [snorts] another 40 minutes back. Sometimes we get that we got to do it three and four times a year depending on the randomness of it. We should be getting paid for that. The classes we take we should be getting paid for that. This

132is all like, here you go volunteer, but you get a whopping 3% raise. And then you're showing the picture up there saying our health care might go up 75%? How we going to pay for that? Honestly, mostly every bus driver here has a second job because we can't make it any other way. So, I'm really sorry, but this is sort of upsetting to me. And I'd like to know, are you going to drive my line and other people's runs to see if we can go down there in the morning? I leave my house at dark. I need to know what I'm going into because I can't back up three months. Thank you very much. Sorry about that. >> Thank you, Ms. Knight. Not. Not. Sorry. My ears are so plugged I can't hear. Linda Burton,

133Gloucester. I just want to talk about um custodial. I'm with Concerts by the Bay. And we pay the custodial person 6 hours. The new policy you're going to pay her an additional hour and a half. This one the person that we get comes in, you can't find her. She's always gone. We look, we need a door open, we need something open, she's never there. You got to run all over We're doing things that we need to do to get the concerts going and you know, do do what we need to do. But a simple thing like a chair that you need somewhere, we can't even find her. I don't know where she goes. I don't know if she goes down the hall, smokes, I don't know what she's doing. But to pay her another hour

134and a half to clean when she does nothing. So we're paying her $210 every time she comes you know, to be at concert. She doesn't need to be there at 12:00 when we we are there. She's doing nothing. And it's really aggravating because she's not there to help us. So I think it's just a waste of money. $210 is too much for a Sunday to pay a custodial to do nothing. Thank you, Ms. Burton. Pardon? Thank you. You're welcome. Who else would like to approach the podium? My name is Cindy Bocrie, b o c r i e. Um, I live in Middlesex. I have long long connections to Matthews. Uh, my sister teaches in the school system. My brother lived here for 35 years. I have multiple friends in the community. I've done home nursing

135in the community. Um, I do feel connected here. And also long experience with the auditorium through Courthouse Players. Um, also have done things in this building. Um, which I also assume would be off limits if the plan is to tell us to find somewhere else to go. I'm happy to hear that that's not your goal. Um, we have offered numerous times before that we would help. We see the damage. We see what needs to be done. Um, that we would help with some of those repairs. Uh, two comments I had. One on, uh, the janitorial things that the last one brought up. Um, we also always pay for janitorial services. I don't know who's not paying, but it's not us. We always pay. We also always check, as, um, another speaker said, we always check

136and clean up after ourselves. We clean up before we start, we clean up after we're done. Whenever we're talking about refreshments to serve, we're always thinking about what's going to make a mess, what can we not serve, what can we have to serve. Um, and yet we pay these janitors, and then we're always having to call the office and say, "We have no toilet paper. We have no paper towels. They haven't emptied the trash. The The toilet was stopped up." It's [clears throat] not There are some good We've had some good responses, but we've also had a lot of that. Um, so I did want to mention those items as well. And one more one plug I would make for, um, Corduroy Players that I don't think anyone else covered. We talked about that it

137is a big opportunity for the children, but it also is a big opportunity for families to do something together. And there's not a lot of that here. Um, you can watch your children play baseball. You can, um, watch your children play in the band. Your children can watch you do something that, you know, go to your quilting guild or whatever else that you choose to do. But, Corduroy Players is something that families do together. Um, we do have some shows that are adults-only. We do have some shows that are children-only. But, we have now three generations of families who do this together. Um, I know Linda on the board, Ms. Hodges, did it with her daughter, at least once. Um, I actually remember one of costumes. Um, and and I did it with my children.

138Several of these other people have done it with their children. Um, I'm working now with the 250 committee to put on uh the Crickets on the Hill, the story about the Battle of Gwynns Island. Um, that Courthouse Players is doing with them. That's another tie I have to your community. Um, and we have we have some third generation people in that show. Ms. Cindy, I have to interrupt you. Thank you very much. Your 3 minutes is up. Thank you. And I apologize. Um, this Do we have any more Mathews citizens that that would like to approach the the podium? All right. There being none, we'll move into school board member comments. Ms. Hodges. As you know, I don't shy away. Um, I I I just want to thank each of you that have taken the

139time to come out tonight to offer your thoughts about a variety of issues. Um, and please know this board hears you, listens to you, and we go back and and um and we take take them like seriously and go back and discuss what changes if if it's in our if it's in our power that we can make um based on sometimes competing um competing concerns. Um, Mr. Jones, I thank you for your thoughts about the LCI. Um, I think we all um the board well understands how that works. And for those who are here, it's a sum total game. It's some some counties listen and and excuse me, some counties are raised, other counties um are lowered. It's not that everybody's lowered. It's a sum total game. Um and I urge you to reach out

140to our delegate and our senator to ask them to reevaluate how the state funds local school divisions because our county is suffering because of the way that this state um funds our our education, which also means if you can't afford it, we're not we're not northern Virginia. If you can't afford it, our students suffer. And it hurts everybody. Um most importantly the students who is our prime who are our primary focus. Um I I I do want to make some other points. Um I I I I as some of you have referenced and speak to my age, I well recall um when the auditorium was built. Um and that the intent was to be a um a community facility um for the schools and the community. Um and I well recall the fundraiser by Courthouse

141Players and the expertise that was used to build the the inward building the the um sound system specifically um by Mr. Lusher. Um Dr. Daniel, I appreciate your um going over the thinking behind the draft policy um so that we do treat people equally and there's not partisanship involved with um with how we treat different organizations. Um and and um and I think you know, as I said earlier, our budget has slowly um diminished over the years. And we haven't been able to hire from in my opinion some of the teachers that I think can make a difference in children that aren't playing sports. Drama teacher, chorus teachers, um and that that is very disturbing to me. Um because we know that Dunks, well, not Dunks, the little Opry, sorry. Um Courthouse Players is often

142built on um what our students learn in school that um in musically, acting, that moves them forward to be part of those groups. I I well understand that. Um but again our budget is dwindling and we're trying to um trying to do the best Uh that sounds lame. It's We're We're trying to to figure out what are We need need to know what our priorities are and what we can do and what unfortunately has to fall to the wayside. Um but but please know that we take every single comment very seriously and again I want to extend my thanks for each of you who have taken the time to either write to us or speak here tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Mrs. Hodges. Thank you, Mr. Diggs. I'm going to repeat a little of what

143she just said. Am I on? Yeah. Um this afternoon I sat down at home and I wrote um a little blurb here in response to some of the comments that I had received um from some of you. Perhaps you're at home tonight. Um before I read those comments, I I have to add a little bit. Being a lifelong member here in Mathews County, I too love this county and I don't want to see our kids hurt at all. I don't want to see your organizations hurt. And we I think, jointly, um, with the Board of Supervisors, are doing everything we can to keep taxes down and to keep everything else operating the best we can. I've met with some of you with some of your organizations. And I know there huge challenges for all of

144us, but uh, when I attended Mathews High School a few years ago, um, I worked with the drama department, not on stage, um, but Thomas Callis and I, we were the ones who did the stage set and the change out, and I loved it. Um, >> [snorts] >> but we had a good drama club. We did good things. My older sister went on to college and she continued with drama there. Um, I got to know Merle and Dick Luscher personally, um, ate at their homes more than once or twice. And I know the work that you and Dick put into all of this for Mathews County. Um, and I know that the Little Opry, uh, I've been here over 50 years. And I know that a number of years ago Dolly Parton came here >>

145[snorts] >> and sang. I didn't hear her. I wish I had, but, uh, she's probably old enough, but anyway, we have a vested interest in this county and the arts, and, um, we have the Bay School over here, and just so much that you all represent. And what I wrote today, I'll read. Harry Ward was a wonderful man who served our schools and this county well. We knew him and we loved him. Um, the auditorium what built and named for him has been and will continue to be used by the citizens of Matthews for years to come. We will work these things out, I'm sure. >> [snorts] >> I thank each one of you um who wrote us with your concerns as keepers of these buildings, it is our responsibility to maintain the buildings um

146and to be conscious of the wear and tear, as you all already are, for each of the facilities. With the years of use, updates are necessary and they do cost us. Um though organizations pay for their use, more requests come in, uh which is not a bad thing, but they cause the board to elevate or to evaluate, excuse me, what changes might be needed. As the dollars are tight for all of us, we need to cover cost and we hope to reach a fair and consistent guidelines with everyone. Thank you all for your concerns and your coming and voicing yourselves tonight. Thank you, Diggs. Do you want me to go Explain it, Stuart. Okay. So, um I I appreciate everybody coming. Um I love seeing more of our community at school board meetings. Um I

147always learn a lot listening to the comments. Um as far as transportation goes, I am so impressed with how you have organized and it's very heartwarming to see your devotion to your leader. And I I do appreciate you safely transporting our kids um to and from school, to and from sporting events, field trips. Um thank you. I I really appreciate that. Um So, I will say say just a few more things about uh the facility use. Um I just need to maintain that again, fees should cover the cost that that we incur. I wouldn't think taxpayers would expect that. And it is because we are all I guess we often feel like we we never have enough money to do what we really what we'd really like to do for the kids. And like I

148said, when I worked here there wasn't a year where I really felt like I had everything I needed, whether that was assistance from teacher assistant. I've worked with a great one, but I wish I had had more of her time. Um or or more more supplies. And we cannot run a deficit because of you know other people using our building. I do want that use to continue as long as um organizations remain good stewards of our building, but we we must do things to recoup the cost because of our budget. Um uh So, but I would like to see the regular use continue. I come to Donk's a little opry shows. Um I love them. Um I I see how much the community loves them, too. Um and and I've taken my my own daughter

149to the Courthouse Player productions. I haven't made it to any of the other organizations' things, but I'm sure those those are great, too. I I hear that the community loves them. So, um Yes, but that's we we just got to make sure we we do what we can to cuz our focus is student achievement. And um >> [snorts] >> so Yes, but that's all I have to say about about items that were spoken about tonight. Thank you, Ms. Bohannan Stuart. Mr. Morgan. Yes, couple things real quickly here. Um, first of all, I too would like to thank each and every one of you for coming out this evening and sharing your thoughts and concerns and so forth um with us. We appreciate it. We're always glad to hear from you. Um Mr. Jones explained a

150little bit more thoroughly a little earlier about the LCI and how it works and essentially the state sets your budget. State says, "This is what we think you should you need to use what you should need and we're going to give you this much. The rest of it's up to you." So, our operating budget proposed operating budget for the upcoming fiscal year is $15 million $257,439. And keep in mind about 81% I believe of that is personnel. Salaries. If you do the math, you find out of the $15 million $257,439 the 66% that the locality is responsible for comes out to $10,069,909.74. The state would give us $5,187,529.26. Now, I know these numbers are maybe not precise because we don't know exactly yet. I don't think the the governor has released the biennial budget. The

151last I heard it had not been approved. So, that could change slightly. Uh but, just to put it in perspective for you, and and also that 15,257,000 operating budget is down. This is a be the third year in a row it's gone down, not up. So, we we are trying to be frugal. Trying to be. That Just giving you that just to put it in a little bit of perspective for you. Excuse me. Excuse me. The members The members are are giving their reports. Um Mr. Morgan, are you finished? >> Yes, I'm finished. >> Okay. Um From all the qualitative and quantitative commentary from the board members, I have little to add, but I would like to say thank you to all the people who texted, called, wrote letters, uh and emailed all of us

152in the last several days. And for those specifically who are here tonight, and everybody watching at home, we, this board, understands that this is a a very important issue. The issues that were discussed here tonight, um are all very important. We don't take your comments lightly. Uh it's very um we have a heavy burden to incorporate all of your um your comments, your wishes, um your thoughts, your recalls from the past, and it's it was very informative for me sp- particularly. One common theme that seemed to emerge tonight, specifically discussing the facilities use policy or regulation draft, was I n- and I did I did hear this, even though it was slight on some on some speakers, was the desire to work together as a community. We can do this. Matthews is magical in that

153way. We have that going for us. That is free. That is a matter of will. And I believe that we have the will to do that, to work together, to come to a fair unrea- and reasonable understanding of how to manage in particular the auditorium's use so that the community thrives, and that's all ages, surrounding areas continue to come to our community, that we grow our children from the inside out, and that contributes to our schools in terms of the performance, um uh I think it was Molly Hoffman who talked about the inner connections. Um that was that was great, and Ms. Dietmeyer who said theater is a sport. I mean, it is. I am a Thespian myself. I totally appreciate this. However, on this board, I I believe that we would all see the

154board has very little room to supply, to subsidize, to we don't have the luxury to be able to make up the difference. So, if we can find a way together so that there is a wash, I do not and I I don't I'm going to go out here and say this is not a revenue-producing endeavor that we're in as a board. >> [snorts] >> I do not wish it to be that way. Um but the revenue would come in the building of the spirits of the people who attend the events at the auditorium. But thank you for Dr. Daniel, as Mrs. Hodges and the other members said, uh I do I do believe that it is time to have um a consistent approach, And I think that makes us better. That makes us That makes

155it clear. That makes it more transparent. And but we need to keep working on that draft. And I think we've heard that here tonight and for the last few days. Regarding the transportation department, I'm very concerned about the functionality of that department. I realize the safety and the concerns by families for their students. The very difficult terrain that we in particular in this county that you all navigate is um, not like other counties. Our budget in that department is quite extensive as compared to other counties just due to the layout of our county. So, we we understand that. Um, but it doesn't mean that I We are We are concerned. We are very concerned. Um, I don't think we know how the organization of that department will lay out quite yet. So, I'd ask you

156as well and I'm looking at the mass bus driver attendees here to to I hear you. I hear you. To work with us, to let's let's keep talking. Let's keep working together. As I heard the theme regarding facilities use, we're community. We must work together. We cannot be at odds with each other. We will find solutions. We will do the best We will absolutely do the best we can for you. Um, and I am very very concerned about the functionality I I I hear your request. I have noted the request. Yes, that you would wish to speak to the full board. I did hear that. Um, and regarding the budget overall, uh, it's a it's a very difficult, complicated budget that the schools run. There are many different lenses through which to look at it.

157Um, the numbers never get bigger. They're always getting smaller. As I said in the work session the other day with the Board of Supervisors, uh, it is not a matter of doing more with less. It's possibly having to expect less with less. That is a devastating thing to say. And we're going to fight. This board is going to fight. Again, I've said it a million times, five different people up here with very different views on on a lot of things work together well for the benefit of the students, the staff, and the county at large. We will never stop doing that. This board works hard together to do the the best we can with information we have at the time. Please continue to reach out to us. Um, this has been a wonderful meeting. I

158appreciate the, uh, sincerity and the passion at the podium. And I appreciate your dignity in the audience this evening. Thank you very much. Any more last comments or thoughts? Dr. Daniel, Ms. Hamley. All right, Dr. Gibbs, move over here. >> Yes. I failed [snorts] to speak to the bus drivers in my comments, but, uh, I live down Port Haywood, and I know Newport, and I know Unimo, etc. Those little places you folks drive, cuz I've had to go down when I had guests, and and they I had to back up, so I can't imagine. But, you people, we are going to work with you, and we hear you tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Diggs. All right, moving on to item 11, other business by school board members or superintendent. On 11.1, we do have

159a town hall coming up on Tuesday, April 14th, 2026 at 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in this building, the J. Murray Brooks Auditorium at Thomas Hunter Middle School. Item 11.2, our next monthly closed meeting will be Tuesday, April 21st. You'll recall that is a voting day. Um it will be at 5:00 p.m. in the media center at Matthews High School. So, that is a location change. And that is followed immediately by our next monthly meeting, which will be uh Tuesday, April 21st, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. again in the media center at Matthews High School. Please make a note of that. And with that, this meeting is adjourned. Thank you, everyone.