In the process of trying to determine a best practice approach toward meeting our shortfall for the year, uh, I was directed. To bring my team back together and to look at additional options.

We staffed and we were planning for about 88,787 students. We didn't get there. We ended up at 8,245, and the difference there is the 542, which equates to, uh, lost, uh, revenue about $4.9 million. That was our challenge.

Doctor Schmidtta Carranza um, really looked through every single school, and um, we tasked her with doing that, um, with a really critical eye and making sure that she felt very strongly in her professional opinion that an ESL program in that building, um, could be not only efficacious for the students but also workable for staff.

I just am interested in, I guess it, you know. I guess moving forward, making sure that if we're working with um a union or a group, that we include everybody that is part of that group because everybody has value. And just thinking about some of the EA's who probably have done maybe Twice as much time or maybe even more time than licensed teachers and and could use an early retirement package. It just made me think about that as we were looking at the 7.25% uh ELEA reduction.

This process this pro this process has really given additional insight into just EL programming in general, um, and I think deeper insight into, um, what we as board members, um. Became curious about um throughout this entire process, service models, um, how folks are receiving service, and I, I, I appreciate again from the, the jump, the transparency around this.

We have, we have, we have cut, right We've cut just about as far that we can, and now we are at the place where we were cutting at the classroom It's here, it's today. And we don't have any other wiggle room. We have nothing, no, there's nothing to pass off to the next budget cycle. We've done it And now it's time to figure out how we climb out of it.

We are still relying on uncommitted early retirements. We're still relying on uncertain things in incredibly uncertain times We know that as we move forward between now and the end of this year, prices are probably going to continue to go up. We know that. We're taking a, we're taking ourselves so close. To the edge of the fund balance And we're doing so without. Certainty that we are going to get all of the savings that we see here. I have a hard time. I have a hard time with it.

The numbers on the spreadsheet are not the point of our work. They're not the most important thing And also we have to make sure that we are financially viable as an institution that we're being fiscally responsible or else everything else falls apart.