Schools Tighten Belts

Despite declining enroll­ment in some districts and cuts across the board in the state budget for education, school district administrators in the Touchet Valley remain optimistic. "We have always been conservative in our budget­ing," said Dr. Carol Clarke, Waitsburg superintendent. "But we're hopeful the num­ber of students will be there." Enrollment is down in Waitsburg and Prescott, which means a loss of thou­sands

of dollars. Each full-time equivalent student means close to $6,000 for the district.

In addition, the state has cut programs that Touchet Valley schools have relied heavily on i...