Officials in Sonoma County’s 40 school districts are sorting through the latest budget wrinkle to come their way — a reversal of a cut to transportation funding but a offsetting decrease in per pupil spending by the state.

Sonoma County educators on Wednesday greeted Gov. Jerry Brown’s call for less student testing and quicker results on the remaining tests as a bit of good news for schools that are awash in financial worry. Brown said students are asked to take too many tests, and teachers learn little from them because results are not readily available. What do you think of the governor’s proposal?

This week, Gov. Jerry Brown announced a 50 percent cut in funding for school bus service as part of his plan to slash $1 billion from California’s budget. Some districts are considering eliminating bus service, while others said they will be forced to make cuts in other programs to continue busing kids to school.

Agencies across Sonoma County were scrambling Tuesday to determine the impact of the $1 billion in statewide cuts Gov. Jerry Brown announced as part of his latest bid to balance the state’s budget. The range of public services affected includes programs for the ailing and developmentally disabled, fees charged to the county for housing violent juvenile offenders and support for higher education.

The Sonoma Valley Unified School District is looking at its election practices after being alerted by Sonoma County Superintendent of Schools Steve Herrington that its current hybrid practice might not meet Voting Rights Act standards. “The biggest thing is we want to be sure that we do have representation from the voting population here in Sonoma and that the minority voice is being accounted for and addressed,” Superintendent Louann Carlomagno said.

A bill that would have prohibited schools from charging fees for class registration as a condition for participation or extracurricular activity has been vetoed by Gov. Jerry Brown. Sonoma County schools ask for donations to support activities such as music and band, but local educators said that no students are prevented from participating if they do not pay.

Local educators are casting a wary eye on the Obama administration’s recent offer to release states from some of the most stringent aspects of the federal No Child Left Behind law in exchange for taking on a new set of regulations. Obama’s Race to the Top initiative would make test scores a component of teacher and administrator evaluations, while imposing standards meant to better prepare students for college and careers.

Santa Rosa City Schools is considering adding at least one, and as many as three, instructional days to the current school year as officials await word on final state budget numbers. The moves are being made in anticipation of revised budget figures from Sacramento — numbers that could force the district to come back to the calendar and cut a day in May if anticipated revenues don’t show up in state coffers.

With a record number of Sonoma County schools in federal sanctions under the No Child Left Behind law, more administrators than ever before are scrambling to make sense of their new reality. Critics say the rankings and punishments are losing their meaning as more schools are being labeled failures. Some of the penalties are downright puzzling to local educators.

The problem of high school dropouts may not be that complicated and might easily be solved — or maybe the numbers can be cut in half — by looking at a few intangibles, says David Sortino, a Graton psychologist and retired teacher. He suggests that schools should increase vocational training opportunities.