The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

Good news for the Valley's schools, as all of the votes in Tuesday’s special elections resulted in positive results.

School levies were approved by voters in Waitsburg, Prescott, Dixie, Dayton, Walla Walla and College Place.

School levies fund the extras that basic education dollars in Washington state do not, area officials have said.

In Waitsburg, levy dollars help pay for fine arts and STEM, athletics, innovative preschool programs, technology, career and technical education (CTE), extra-curricular activities, counseling and student support, and much more.

School levies must pass with a simple majority, or one vote over 50%. Every local school levy did so, with today’s numbers from the Washington Secretary of State’s tally as follows:

Waitsburg School District education programs and operations

Yes — 60% (192 votes)

No — 40% (128 votes)

Prescott School District educational programs and operations

Yes — 68.79% (97 votes)

No — 30.50% (43 votes)

Dixie School District programs and operations levy

Yes — 61.27% (87 votes)

No — 36.62% (52 votes)

Dixie School District health, safety and energy efficiency improvements

Yes — 59.15% (84 votes)

No — 38.73% (55 votes)

Dayton School District maintenance and operations

Yes — 62.36% (714 votes)

No — 37.47% (429 votes)

Dayton School District heating and cooling system and new technology

Yes — 63.14% (723 votes)

No — 36.51% (418 votes)

Walla Walla School District’s replacement of expiring levy

Yes — 71.06% (5,331 votes)

No — 28.75% (2,171 votes)

College Place School District transportation levy

Yes — 59.34% (1,538 votes)

No — 40.12% (1,040 votes)