The District Board of Trustees convened for its monthly meeting on Wednesday evening. The Board heard public comment, discussed a brief transition update on the recent closure of TIDE Academy, and received an annual presentation on District attendance.
The meeting began with a special recognition of Sequoia High School’s winter rally performer Dustin Lebus and the school’s Baile Folklórico group and advisor Melissa Diaz, for their contributions to the school community.
Public Comment
During public comment, Greg Shmid, a teacher at the Health Careers Academy at Sequoia, spoke in recognition of former teacher Mary Alice Davis, who passed away battling cancer. Several others also spoke in her honor, asking the District to install a memorial plaque near a tree planted for her on campus.
Shmid reflected on her impact as an educator and colleague. “She quickly took to teaching. Her love for education and for our students was evident from the beginning,” he said.
The discussion then shifted to TIDE Academy. At a special meeting on Feb. 4, the Board unanimously voted to close the school, leaving students and parents with overwhelming concern and unease about the planned transfer to Woodside High School.
Numerous TIDE parents voiced concerns about a recent email sent out by the District regarding TIDE’s closure and the relocation of students for the upcoming school year. Many parents claimed that the email was sent only to Parent 2—the second listed parent for each student—did not have any mention of SUHSD, and contained an interdistrict transfer request without the option of choosing Woodside for current students and incoming freshmen.
“Last week, we told you to change the lives of 200 students. Yesterday, I got an email, it wasn’t from the District, but from a Jarett Dooley asking me to fill in an inter-district transfer request form,” Rebecca, a mother of a TIDE student, said.
Her feelings were shared among four other commenters, all harboring feelings of mistrust, confusion, and dissatisfaction with the District’s communication. One speaker commented on current sentiments of many TIDE students and the potential psychological effects of this change, requesting a “communication plan with a focus on harm reduction.”
“An email telling us we have to pick a new school that says nothing about moving TIDE’s program to Woodside is the opposite of providing care and understanding of our situation,” TIDE mother Mary Jane Leonard said. “Some of us have been living and breathing your every word for the past few months, but not all families are so informed.”
“If you weren’t in this room, there is no communication from the District to our families [about] what was voted on. Not even any communication,” another TIDE parent said.
TIDE Academy Transition Update
Next, the Board opened up discussion among the Trustees regarding the planned transfer of current TIDE students to Woodside for the 2026-27 school year. Many Trustees asked Superintendent Crystal Leach about District communication, including concerns about the email mentioned by parents.
Leach claimed she was unaware of why the email was only sent to Parent 2, and mentioned that on Thursday, the head counselors and principals of TIDE and Woodside would meet to discuss the logistics of the transition and how to engage the student body.
“[They] will be meeting to start to develop and understand the programs and pathways that we offer at both of our schools to reach a common vocabulary around the CTE courses together,” she said. “They will offer a message that captures the academic programs, resources, and the vision of merging these two programs at Woodside High School, and that communication will be sent promptly after.”
Leach also stated that Woodside Principal Karen Van Putten has planned a Walk on the Wild Side event on Feb. 28 intended to help bridge TIDE students into Woodside. Both Putten and TIDE Principal Simone Kennel have also planned possible visits from Woodside Leadership and clubs to TIDE to help “increase visibility and traction” before the event.
The open enrollment form, which was extended to March 9 for TIDE students, offers incoming freshmen and current students from TIDE the option to select the SUHSD school they transfer to, with Woodside as the default selection. If no selection is made, students will be enrolled at their “home schools,” meaning the school that is in accordance with where they live. However, according to parents, the form omitted the option of Woodside, leaving many confused.
Regarding TIDE staff, whether teachers will follow students to Woodside depends on the amount of students who choose to enroll there.
Trustees Amy Koo and Sathvik Nori brought up concerns about changing the open enrollment form to include Woodside as an option, to which Leach read out a portion of the email explaining the purpose of open enrollment that was sent to parents. Nori later identified that this paragraph was not actually included in the email. Leach deferred both Koo’s request for double-checking that the correct email was sent and Nori’s appeal to send a clarifying email.
District Attendance Report
The Board also received the District’s annual attendance report, presented by Associate Superintendent Bonnie Hansen and Executive Director of Student Services Jarrett Dooley. The presentation provides an overview of attendance trends across the District and examines ongoing challenges affecting student attendance.
Dooley reviewed how attendance patterns have shifted in recent years, particularly following COVID-19 school closures, the transition to online learning, hybrid instruction, and the return to full in-person learning. The report connected attendance goals to the District’s Local Control and Accountability Plan (LCAP), emphasizing continued efforts to improve engagement and reduce chronic absenteeism.
Dooley highlighted the work of attendance teams at each school site, recognizing community liaisons who support students. The presentation also outlined attendance support tools currently in use, including mental health caseworkers and expanded re-engagement strategies for students struggling to return to consistent attendance.
District data showed weekly and monthly absence rates year-over-year, noting that overall attendance decreased slightly by 0.3% compared to the previous year. Chronic absenteeism has decreased by 0.9% over the past two years but increased by 0.7% from last year. “We’ve come so far in a short amount of time between reimagining home visits and the approach to reengaged students with their learning has changed as well,” Dooley said. “That takes time, effort, and energy, and money.”
Dooley noted that attendance trends will continue to have long-term impacts on student achievement, emphasizing that improving attendance remains an ongoing priority.
The Board will convene again on Wednesday, March 4.
