That extra $20 million that legislators pumped into the education budget to ease the transition into a "weighted" student funding formula will bring some relief from making difficult funding decisions and corresponding cuts.

But it will only temporarily ease the pain of the new system.

School administrators would be wise to use the time to plan productively, and not to count on this cash infusion again next year, when the next phase of the weighted formula kicks in.

For instance, it would be risky to use the extra money for new or expanded permanent positions because there's no guarantee the money will be there next time around.

Now is the time to seek out innovative ways, such as "sharing" resource specialists or other positions deemed less critical with other campuses, to help make the most of existing funds and ease the impact of future cuts.

For example, a librarian's spot perhaps can be shared between campuses, as might a counselor's position, depending on needs at each campus.

With an eye on this year's election and with their in-boxes full of angry communications from schools and communities that lost money, lawmakers pumped $20 million extra into the DOE budget with instructions that every school would get an equal share of the windfall.

The result is that all schools slated to lose funds were made whole, while those that stood to gain received even more extra cash. At least for now.

Next year, the $20 million will be treated as part of the overall school budget "base" and will be allocated according to a formula that measures each student's need in deciding how much a school will receive.

So the tough decisions that emerged this year will be with the schools again next year.

Schools will need to adjust to this changing budgetary landscape. And shared resource specialists, elimination of no-longer-needed positions and other changes may indeed be on the horizon.

The time to begin planning for all this is right now.