The Hood River County School District’s budget committee approved a budget for the 2015-16 school year that includes over $324,000 dollars in program reductions.  Two teaching positions are being eliminated, one each at Wy’east Middle School and Hood River Valley High School, with both being achieved through attrition.  Funding was cut in areas like curriculum, technology hardware, materials, and supplies, while also spending the district reserve fund down to five percent of the general fund, which is an established minimum level set by the district board.  Superintendent Dan Goldman added reductions were kept down thanks to increasing the number of tuition paying students from outside Hood River County, the benefits of using staggered start and stop times at district schools to reduce the need for bus purchases, and finding efficiencies with the Columbia Gorge Education Service District.  The budget goes to school board in June, and there may be changes depending on what happens in the Oregon Legislature in regards to K-12 funding, with Thursday’s revenue forecast adding 105 million dollars to the statewide allocation over the next two years.