This is a challenging time for Pennsylvania school boards as they ramp up their annual budget-preparation exercises.

Butler County school districts already are deep into their budget discussions and, in the case of the Butler School District, for example, a couple of important numbers have emerged:

The school board is working with a budget plan amounting to more than $97 million, and the proposed spending plan has an initial $6.7 million deficit that must be erased.

The situation might not be as ominous as it seems, because the district usually has surplus money at the end of its fiscal year on June 30, as well as other reserves. Retirements and program changes could result in more savings.

But Butler and all other Pennsylvania school districts must deal with what is an injustice, and headache, thanks to state lawmakers. School directors must begin preparing a budget — and might have to give final approval to a budget — without knowing how much money they’ll be getting in state subsidies.

That critically important subsidies number usually is not known until the days just before the end of districts’ fiscal year on June 30 — the same day that the state’s fiscal year ends. Or, in years of protracted budget battles between the Legislature and governor, the critical state subsidy number might remain unknown well into July or possibly later — even though districts’ deadline for budget finalization remains June 30.

That raises the question of why school districts’ budget preparations must take place amid such a knuckleheaded atmosphere of uncertainty.

Instead of continuing to require school districts to begin building their budgets on speculation, the state should explore ways to end the speculation.

First on the agenda, Gov. Tom Corbett or the General Assembly should appoint a bipartisan committee or commission to explore the feasibility of such options as changing school districts’ fiscal year.

Do school districts and the state really need to operate under the same July 1-through-June 30 fiscal calendar?

The state’s counties, cities, boroughs and townships operate under a Jan. 1-through-Dec. 31 fiscal year. The federal fiscal year is Oct. 1 through Sept. 30.

Why can’t school districts’ fiscal year be reconstructed to enable boards to have — from Day One — real incoming-subsidy numbers? Or, why can’t state lawmakers merely be mandated to make a firm decision on school subsidies earlier in the calendar year, eliminating the uncertainty school officials currently encounter because of Harrisburg wrangling?

Even if that were to occur, there still might be some uncertainties, such as with teacher retirements or some course offerings based on the coming year’s student enrollment and class choices. However, school districts would not have to enter budget preparations almost totally blind, as they do now.

Not only is the current proc-ess frustrating for school officials, but it’s also upsetting to taxpayers who often face unnecessary anxiety over coming property tax bills.

A state-level committee or commission to consider this issue is the right first step. Without that first step, school systems are doomed to continue budget exercises constructed on unreliable information, rather than the concrete numbers needed to properly set districts’ future spending.