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The passion to save TIDE Academy from a potential closure brought together dozens of parents, students, alumni and teachers as they met with Sequoia Union High School District Superintendent Crystal Leach in a tense community meeting.
On Nov. 19, the district invited parents to speak with Leach during a community meeting held in the TIDE Academy cafeteria. The event, however, caught the attention of the wider TIDE community and soon the space was standing room only. A remote meeting was also held on the following day.
A week prior, trustees Mary Beth Thompson and Richard Ginn, on behalf of a board committee, asked the superintendent to develop a plan to consider closing the school and present it to the board for discussion on Dec. 10. Thompson said a structural deficit and declining enrollment were the key factors in the board committee’s decision to explore a shutdown.
Leach hosted the meetings to get a better sense of the parents’ questions and concerns and provide answers as they move forward in the process. Prior to the meeting, the district clarified to this news organization that the meeting was a listening session and would not involve a presentation on finances or information related to enrollment.
Leach explained to parents that a more detailed presentation with data would be presented at the board meetings in January. A final decision on the potential closure is estimated to take place by the end of February.
When the meeting began in the TIDE cafeteria, a dozen hands went up. The one-and-a-half hour meeting brought up questions about the district’s desired enrollment rates, concerns about Thompson’s former role at Summit Prep, successful student anecdotes, community discontent and pleas to save the school.
Alumni students attended the meeting to share their personal experiences on how TIDE Academy’s small school setting changed their educational experience. Some shared that it was the first school where they felt comfortable and welcomed by their teachers and peers. Specifically neurodivergent students said that the unique support and accommodations of the TIDE community opened doors for their academic success.
Parents confronted Leach about what data and information was gathered by the board committee to lead trustee Thompson and Ginn to recommend the potential closure of the school. Leach was unable to provide a clear response, prompting parents to attend future board meetings where the data would be shared.
Others also complained that the timing of the news is detrimental to future enrollment as the district is currently in its enrollment season.
Declining enrollment has been the district’s key explanation to the discussion of the closure but the TIDE community expressed its frustrations that the school board would give up on a school that has only been open for six years and had enrollment impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
When parents asked what the district’s desired enrollment numbers were, Principal Simone Rick-Kennel said “we’d love to be a school of 300 students.” For the 2024-25 school year, TIDE had 212 students enrolled.
Some were also suspicious of Thompson’s role on the board committee that brought forth the idea to discuss the school’s closure. Last year, Thompson resigned from her position as executive director of Summit Prep, a charter school that competes with TIDE Academy, to avoid conflicting interests.
Students and parents asked whether Thompson would recuse herself from any discussion involving TIDE’s potential closure, considering her previous experience. Leach responded that although Thompson used to work for another small school, there is currently no conflict of interest.
One of the Summit Public Schools, Summit Everest in Redwood City, closed at the end of the 2024-25 school year.
Parent Olga Zhuravskaya said she was “tremendously” disappointed by the way Leach responded to parent questions and concerns. She said the decisions made by the district “feel premeditated.”
“They only gave us two hours of community input. How unrealistic is it to have two hours to talk about something as big as a closure with limited questions and with no data input,” Zhuravskaya said.
Zhuravskaya is part of a group of about 100 parents who have started a petition to save the school. They call themselves Tide Rising, she said. Within this group are parents who also created a steering committee and a legal subcommittee to explore a potential lawsuit.
“We feel that it’s our obligation to protect the only small public school there is for miles and miles, especially with the diverse and underserved communities,” said Zhuravskaya.
As the next school board meeting approaches on Dec. 10, parents continue to email their concerns to school board members, some have scheduled private meetings with the trustees.
As of Nov. 25, the petition to protect TIDE has gained 1,436 signatures.
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