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A group of parents trying to keep Tide Academy from closing hit a setback on March 5, when a federal judge denied the group’s request for a temporary restraining order that would force The Sequoia Union High School District to keep open the 6-year-old campus beyond the end of the school year.
As part of the civil rights lawsuit filed on Feb. 13, the parent group known as TIDE Rising asked the judge for a temporary restraining order, also known as a TRO, to prevent the district from vacating the campus in June. Sequoia district officials cited budget woes and declining enrollment across its high schools in their decision to shut down TIDE.
U.S. District Judge Trina L. Thompson explained that the parents’ concerns “fall short” since TIDE will not close down until the school year ends. She said that a TRO is typically granted to prevent something from happening in the immediate future but in this case, there is “time for further consideration.”
After the school district board voted in early February to close down TIDE, a small STEM-based school in Menlo Park, parents were quick to take action by filing a lawsuit against Sequoia Union in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco.
Parents alleged in their suit that the school district discriminated against students with disabilities, who make up a disproportionately large share of TIDE’s enrollment, and that the board’s decision was predetermined before public hearings were held, according to documents they obtained through the Public Records Act request.
Jay Jambek, the attorney for TIDE Rising, said at the hearing that parents are worried that their children will not thrive in a large school environment, where some experienced bullying in the past. The parents are also worried they will have to “fight for accommodations and services” for their special education children, Jambek said.
Although TIDE’s programs will be transferred to Woodside High School, its students, teachers and staff will be dispersed throughout all of Sequoia District’s campuses including Menlo-Atherton, Sequoia and Carlmont high schools.
During a Sequoia Union board meeting on March 4, district officials stated that no teachers will be laid off this school year and all TIDE teachers have the opportunity to choose to which site they would like to transfer. Students have until March 9 to submit their open enrollment forms and list their top school choice.
In a pleading filed on March 4, Jambek suggested that, as an alternative to closing TIDE, the district could spend the next school year conducting disability-impact and feasibility analyses and explore “less discriminatory alternatives” while students remain on TIDE’s campus.
Other suggestions included reducing costs districtwide, exploring optimization of its operational budget, and offsetting costs for TIDE’s career technical education programs by partnering with colleges, fundraising or applying for grants. The pleading suggested leasing the Summit Everest campus, which has been unoccupied since the charter school in North Fair Oaks closed in March 2025.
Despite parents’ concerns about the lack of services available at other schools, the district’s attorney Sheila Crawford argued that all campuses within Sequoia Union are required and able to provide the special education services that parents say are significant to TIDE. During board meetings, students shared they were able to receive increased support from teachers for their learning accommodations because of smaller class sizes.
Crawford noted that larger schools would also offer students with more services and opportunities through their robust catalog of Advanced Placement classes, electives and more.
“Federal disability law guarantees meaningful access to educational services; it does not require a district to maintain an underenrolled school at diminished capacity or at the expense of broader districtwide fiscal stability,” wrote the district’s law firm in its pleading.
If the district were to keep TIDE open, it would have to reduce staffing and programming to lower its expenditures, which would eliminate many of its advanced courses, electives and dual enrollment opportunities, the district added. Its legal team argues that reduced course offerings would likely accelerate enrollment declines and lead to further challenges in maintaining a viable campus.
Thompson suggested the two parties schedule a court-assisted mediation. A case management conference is scheduled for May 7.
