The Board of Trustees convened for its monthly meeting on Wednesday evening. The Board heard public comment about the effect of the TIDE Academy’s closure and district settlements, and spoke about next steps for cell phone policies.
Cell Phone Policy
The Board considered the potential implementation of a full-time cell phone ban in the 2027-28 school year. Superintendent Crystal Leach suggested the use of a survey to obtain staff, student, and parent input before the decision. The survey, set to go out from Sept. 14th to Sept. 28th, will gauge opinion on a potential total cell phone ban. The results of the survey will be examined at the Oct. 8th Board meeting, and a final decision will be made by the end of December.
Edith Salvatore, the President of the Sequoia District Teachers’ Association, noted the impact of the current policy on teachers. “[The new policy] need[s] to be an administrative policy and [should] not create new work on top of the work that is already being done by teachers,” she said.
In addition to outlining the extra work being placed on teachers from the current system, Salvatore also mentioned the policy’s ambiguity. “[It] is not necessarily clear and has the potential to be inequitably implemented.” She suggested that the Board provide time for teachers to weigh in on further cell phone policy decisions.
The Board also discussed visiting high schools during lunch periods to evaluate the degrees of student interaction and cell-phone use.
TIDE Fallout
Several former TIDE parents highlighted their frustration with the decision and outcomes of the school’s closure during public comment.
TIDE parent Carol Fan expressed disappointment that the Board didn’t explore other ways of resolving the District’s budget crisis before deciding to close the school. “It was very sad to see that TIDE closed,” she said. “It seemed like it was just to close a budget gap and there wasn’t a whole lot of thought about other potential options,” Fan added.
Fan supported the neighboring Menlo Park City School District’s strategy for closing a budget deficit, suggesting the Board could have done the same. “[They] made sure that people were on board or at least that the community was heard,” she said.
Fan also referenced the student advocacy to keep TIDE open prior to the Board’s decision. “So many TIDE students poured their hearts out in hopes that they could actually make a difference in our community. They bared their souls, and it was really really rough for a lot of them,” she said. “All these kids bared their souls for nothing.”
Johanna Mahal, another former TIDE parent, provided an update on some parents’ efforts to recall the Board. “Community members are engaged. We are organizing. We are funding. We are collecting signatures. We are talking to the press. And we are proceeding with the recall process because we believe that you, elected officials, need to reserve our rights as the constituents to hold accountability with the leadership of this district,” she said.
Former TIDE parent Brian Leonard also criticized the Board for not addressing the difficult transition for TIDE students, saying that his own child was not cohorted with other TIDE students and staff as promised after transferring to Woodside High School. “In general, everything is just apathy and low effort, certainly not student-centered,” he said.
Settlement Reactions
A community member criticized the District’s response to discrimination concerns. Her comment comes just months after the District settled an antisemitism lawsuit after a nearly two-year legal battle with a Jewish advocacy group. The settlement includes key protections and a pledge to include antisemitism as “a prohibited form of discrimination” and to “strengthen protections for all students and staff.”
“How many crying students? How many angry parents did this district—this Board—have to witness to get this [settlement]?” she said. “This is moral rot.”
The Board will reconvene on Sept. 20.
