Good evening. Many of you know me and also probably know that I have tried to keep a broad, balanced view of the process we are now facing. Because I believe that I understand the depth of the problems we face as a district, I have stressed to many people that this conversation cannot only be about what cannot be lost, but what we must do without, as painful as that will be in the short term.

With that said, during times of austerity it is important not to lose sight of what investments hold the highest value for the cost, the most "bang for your buck" so to speak, and what I know from my personal experience and communications from many others across the district is that perhaps the greatest return on investment comes from our Community School Managers. Simply put: your investment in CSMs is a smashing success.

I am well aware that a good number of CSMs, including ours at Peralta Elementary, were intended as a temporary post-covid measure paid for with one-time funds. I am also aware that, in most cases, their effectiveness in supporting our students, teachers and principals has vastly outshone the cost of this investment, and is certainly saving many of our schools a great sum of financial and emotional costs that will accompany their absence.

Our schools and communities can and will endure a lot during this time, but our ability to best serve students rests largely with the highest-value support staff already in place. For this reason, I respectfully urge you to restore at least partial funding for CSMs to every school at OUSD to help us, and you, weather this storm. Thank you.