Our school districts are faced with mounting financial challenges as we brace for what is likely to be an extended period of economic uncertainty.

Frugality will no doubt be a dominant theme in school board discussions going forward. But whatever financial pressures there are ahead, we cannot afford to shortchange our children in the classroom.

The Legislature must step up to its constitutional duty to provide adequate funding for public education. And some way must be found short of drastic increases in impact fees to pay for needed school construction.

After the failure of bond elections in three of the county’s school districts over the past two years, any future requests are likely to be bare bones even as many capital needs remain unmet.

The annual exercise that all school districts must undertake to anticipate how many students they will have in the next academic year is but one example of the financial frustrations faced by administrators.

District officials must predict student enrollment before May 15, the date mandated by state law when teacher hiring and retention decisions must be made. State funding for school operations is based on the annual head count.

The Anacortes and Sedro-Woolley school districts saw their predicted enrollments miss the mark when the students started showing up in September. Burlington-Edison and Mount Vernon enrollments exceeded predictions for those respective districts.

Once the hiring commitments have been made, a district must meet that payroll even if the state support declines due to the loss of students.

District officials cannot be faulted for missing their numbers. They do the best they can to arrive at the most accurate enrollment predictions.

Difficult economic times can cause some dislocation in populations as families move out to pursue job opportunities elsewhere while others arrive for some of the same reasons. This appears to be a factor in shifting district-by-district enrollment gains and losses.

School districts clearly have a tough job of getting the most out of limited resources, and by all appearances things will only get tougher.

When educators present us in the coming year with pared-down bond proposals, we owe them careful consideration.

Schools cannot afford to lose more ground financially when educational excellence is the single most important element in maintaining our strength as a nation.

• Editorials reflect the consensus opinion of the editorial board and are written by its members: Publisher L. Stedem Wood, Editor Don Nelson and City Editor Dick Clever.