Gov. Jerry Brown moved Tuesday to blunt appeals for increased spending, downgrading his budget proposal from January. But the Central Valley stands to gain from a boost to the state average on base funding by grade, with extra dollars to help low-income students and English-language learners.

The Turlock Unified School District refinanced a Measure D bond to save taxpayers $1.76 million, some $600,000 more than expected. In February, the board of trustees approved the refinancing, which at the time was expected to save some $1.1 million on the district's $10.95 million Measure D bond from 2002.

TUOLUMNE COUNTY BOARD TO MEET:

State figures talk to association of bond oversight committee members about problems to watch for and a bill aiming to fix some.

Los Banos Unified School District officials are deciding whether to ask the criminal justice system to prosecute a teacher accused of stealing nearly $2,500 in prom funds, Superintendent Steve Tietjen said. Tietjen said Los Banos High School special education teacher and junior class adviser Jillian Ketcher resigned May 1 after reportedly admitting to taking $2,480 collected from the sale of junior prom tickets.

Fire science instructor Bob Watt trains a team of teens in the Davis High Regional Occupational Program about auto extrication using the Jaws of Life and simpler tools likd axes and oversize hammers.

WATERFORD TO MEET: The Waterford Unified School District board will meet at 7 tonight in the district boardroom, 319 N. Reinway Ave. Board members will vote on a proposal to discontinue state preschool, affecting 24 children, for lack of funds and discontinue a full-day Head Start class for lack of participation. Five part-day Head Start classes will continue. See the agenda at http://bit.ly/WaterfordBoard.

The board of the financially embattled Denair Unified School District will meet at 7:30 tonight in the district boardroom, 3460 Lester Road.

Between stories chastising school districts for spending taxpayer money, let’s take a moment to pretend we’re rich as sultans.

Catherine Everett Elementary will have a 50th anniversary celebration Thursday beginning at 6 p.m. on the blacktop at the school, 1530 Mount Vernon Drive, Modesto.

Students square danced Friday morning during Pioneer Day at Burbank Elementary School in Modesto.

One of the purposes of the statue of Zeus at Olympia was to leave the visitor in awe of the Greek god. Entering the lobby of the new Great Valley Museum on Modesto Junior College's West Campus, one can't help but feel a little in awe as you look at the ceiling and see scale models of our solar system, including Earth and the mammoth planets Saturn and Jupiter — the Romans' name for Zeus — emerging overhead.

American Legion Post 74 will hold its annual awards dinner on May 14, honoring eighth-grade students with the American Legion School Medal Award.

Modesto Teachers Association members have ratified a contract that restores the school year to 180 days for students and reinstates three training days for teachers.

Some straight talk from Denair Interim Superintendent Walt Hanline won praise from community members Tuesday night, who said they want better communication from board members, too.

Several hundred graduates will walk the stage as Modesto Junior College holds its 91st commencement ceremony Friday evening.

The Protecting Health and Slamming Tobacco club chapter at Davis High School will hold a Kick Butts Day Community Carnival 3-6 p.m.

For half a century, she's greeted parents and preschoolers in Modesto. Today, she counts doctors, lawyers, architects, police officers and a Nashville songwriter among her graduates, proving it's not such a small world after all.

Teens are looking toward summer. Johansen seniors use sunny Saturday to serve community two ways.

Modesto City Schools trustees decided Monday night to hold out reserves for teacher training, building repairs and to replace the artificial turf at the Downey High stadium.

The Denair Unified School District Board will meet at 7:30 tonight in the district boardroom, 3460 Lester Road.

Davis High will hold an Every 15 Minutes program at 9:30 a.m. today in the west parking lot of the school along Tully Road at Rumble Road.

Changes in who pays how much toward the $6.6 million cost of door-to-school busing for Stanislaus County special-education students has created a rift among school districts, with West Side administrators retaining legal counsel to fight the shift.

The firing of Columbia College President Dennis Gervin was briefly put aside Monday while the Yosemite Community College District Board discussed the situation in closed session. But in the end, board members voted unanimously to end his contract.

Local control funding will mean tougher decisions for board members as unions and sales pitches clamor for a piece of the pie.