It’s good that Lawrence school officials want to be prepared for further cuts in state funding, but they also shouldn’t rush into decisions that may or may not be necessary, at least right now.

There is no question that the funding situation looks bad, but neither the state nor local districts will know how bad until after the state’s Consensus Revenue Estimating Group meets in early April. After revenue estimates are known, legislators will tackle the real work of balancing the state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

That timing is inconvenient for local school districts, but it also suggests that Lawrence school board members should wait as long as possible before locking the district into cuts that will have a significant impact on local schools. That raises questions about the board’s self-imposed deadline of taking action on such important issues as school closings or program cuts in March, weeks before the state finalizes school funding.

The district faces a deadline of May 1 to notify parents of any school boundary changes and to notify teachers whether their contracts will be renewed. That means the district will need to be prepared to make some quick decisions in those areas once they have a better idea of the state funding picture. That preparation could include a priority list for cuts, perhaps including a running total of what cuts will be made based on how deeply state funding cuts go.

It would be understandable for local school officials to approach the budget situation with pessimism, thinking that even if they cut more than absolutely necessary this year, it will only give them a headstart on an even more dismal budget situation next year. That may be true, but at least they would have a little more time to look at their options.

All of the options being considered by school board members — school closings, program cuts, larger class sizes, administrative cuts — are on the table not because of any beneficial impact they will have on the district but because they will save the district money. If the whole point of these discussions is to cut the budget, why would district leaders move forward on such serious matters before getting as much information as they can about how much must be cut?