Cato schools must continue thrifty ways

Maybe the pain won't last as long as we thought.

The Cato-Meridian Central School District learned this week, its projected financial deficit is substantially lower than originally thought. Instead of $720,000, the district now is looking at a roughly $440,000 shortfall. And some extra state aid will enable Cato to pay down the remaining debt more quickly.

A number of factors came together to give the district this much-needed bit of good news, but perhaps the most important was a new emphasis on frugality. Everyone in the district made sure nothing was wasted, and they spent only when absolutely necessary. Katherine Huntone, the district's administrator, said the administrative offices would borrow paper from the high school at times rather than spend for new.