|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Plenty has been written about Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD) and its TIDE Academy. But there is still more to the Saga.
A lot of articles have been written, but one article in particular stands out, as the young authors focus on the numbers: A Deeper Look into TIDE Financials and Data [MA Chronicle 2026/03/04]. The students did such a great job that I’m using their research as a baseline here. A lot of the data is coming from their summary. Other numbers were mentioned in various articles about the Board meetings in November and January.
But first, some homework.
Timeline of TIDE Academy
2014: SUHSD asked voters to approve Measure A – a $265M bond to expand and modernize its high schools.
2015-2018: Planning and construction of a STEM-based magnet school in East Menlo Park
2019: TIDE Academy opens with a ninth-grade class of roughly 103–106 students.
2022: The San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury praises TIDE as a strong career-focused program while noting countywide CTE opportunities are uneven.
2024–2025: Costs and enrollment pressures intensify: District data show TIDE serving just over 200 students while incurring high staffing costs and small class sizes.
12. November 2025: Closure discussions go public.
10. December 2025: Different closure scenarios presented by Superintendent Crystal Leach.
26. February 2026: TIDE parents file civil rights lawsuit.
6. March 2026: Restraining order and civil rights suit are denied.
11. March 2026: A group of 24 parents (“TIDE Rising“) is working on recall of three board members on June ballots.
2. July 2026: The parent group is trying another recall in November.
4. June 2026: The last senior class celebrates graduation from TIDE Academy.
(There is still more to explore, and the students did just that.)
“Schools Out Forever” [Alice Cooper]
Introducing SUHSD and its Schools
| Code | School | Type | Enroll. | Absent. | EPP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0126722 | East Palo Alto Academy (EPPA) | Charter | 288 | 32% | $18,652 |
| 0138420 | TIDE Academy | Magnet | 210 | 25% | $22,406 |
| 4130993 | Carlmont HS | Regular | 2,389 | 11% | $12,353 |
| 4133716 | Menlo Atherton HS | Regular | 2,232 | 18% | $14,012 |
| 4135687 | Redwood HS | SPED | 255 | 81% | $29,808 |
| 4136693 | Sequoia HS | Regular | 1,933 | 25% | $14,975 |
| 4138053 | Woodside HS | Regular | 1,718 | 20% | $15,164 |
More schools of Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD)
Total Schools: Regular (4), Magnet (2), Charter (3), Closed (9)
- KIPP Esperanza High (Charter), Active
- Summit Preparatory (Charter), Active
- Aspire East Palo Alto Phoenix Academy (Charter), [2008-2014]
- Everest Public (Charter), [2009-2025]
- Menlo Atherton Adult Evening, [1980-1989]
- Ravenswood High, [1980-1989]
- San Carlos High, [1980-1989]
- Sequoia Community Day, [2011-2013]
- Sequoia District Community Day, [1996-2005]
- Sequoia Union High Independent Study, [2012-2014]
- TIDE Academy, [2019-2026]
Apparently, TIDE has not been the first school to open and close in this district.
Ravenswood HS and San Carlos HS closed in 1989, after a short nine-year run. Two charter schools (Aspire and Summit Everest) closed down more recently. I’m sure every single one of these was missed by their community afterward. TIDE Academy became the latest victim this June (2026). The community was disappointed and had many questions.
Initial Reasoning for Building
- SUHSD had $265M of Measure A bond money to spend on expansion.
- To relieve an excess of students that the district had anticipated at Menlo-Atherton High School.
- Around $50M went to TIDE’s new campus.
- Sized for 400 students.
- A specialized focus on science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM)
Here are some of the money numbers going around
- Campus cost $50-$65 million
- 60% of students are socioeconomically disadvantaged (SED)
- 22% of students have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs)
- 14% of students have 504 plans.
- Student numbers are too low – 210 instead of 400.
- TIDE only serves 2% of the district student population.
- A TIDE Academy student costs nearly $40,000* per year (EPP).
- Busing cost: 350,000 per year, while students at other schools need to cope with SamTrans.
This number seems to be a source of discussion, as the School Accountability Report Cards for TIDE show different numbers. In 23/24, “Total EPP” reads “$27,591”, and the 24/25 number jumped to $35,604. The $39,000 or “nearly $40,000” came from the school board meeting and was used in some articles.
The parents questioned a few more numbers.
Reasons for Closing
District data showed that TIDE was serving just over 200 students while carrying high costs for staffing and small class sections. This raised questions about sustainable per-student spending.
- Total projected spending for the district in the 2025-2026 school year is $259,562,294.
- Projected budget shortfall or “structural deficit”: $6.1M
- District has too many small schools already: Redwood HS: 255 (Magnet?), TIDE Academy: 210 (Magnet), East Palo Alto Academy (EPA): 288 (Charter), Summit Prep: 293 (Charter) – all regular schools are much larger.
- Structural cost to run TIDE Academy: $8M per year; by 2030 that would be $12M.
- Eliminating eight central office positions would save roughly $2.5 million
- Student: Teacher ratio – 9:1 (great for education, bad for budget)
- Students here cost double the standard per-student funding
- Education wouldn’t suffer – only the location changes.
“What makes TIDE special is the students and the staff and the relationships they have together. It’s not the building, it’s not the location.” [Superintendent Leach]
What Superintendent Leach is trying to tell us here is that teaching isn’t the cost factor; the administrative side of the equation is the problem here.
It always is … and everywhere.
Is it STEM if no one takes STEM Classes?
TIDE Academy never overcame its enrollment pressures. A Magnet School that doesn’t attract affluent families is not doing its main job.
Here are the STEM classes students apparently took:
- Physics: 6 students
- AP Physics: 4 students
- AP Calc: 5 students
- CTE: 5 students
These are class sizes you see in preschools, and even they will try to get to 6. There isn’t a Kindergarten class in this county with so few students. The idea behind high schools was to save education funding by having larger classes. This isn’t a good look for any cost-conscious Chief Business Officer (CBO).
The cost factor becomes even more obvious when you are looking at counselors. TIDE has 3 counselors, larger EPA only has 2, and much larger MA has only 8. MA would certainly benefit from having 10 counselors, and EPA would definitely benefit from having 3.
The Fate Of A “Gimmick School”
Any magnet program or magnet school comes with immense cost to a district. It can be a boon or a bane, depending on how you use it. Magnet schools – like TIDE Academy – are especially dangerous to becoming “gimmick schools” and apparently very hard to get rid of, even if the experiment failed.
The overflow situation at MA never materialized. And the full capacity of 400 was never achieved, while other schools have empty seats. No one seems mad about losing the STEM program; no one even mentioned the STEM theme at all.
The grand plans never came to fruition. Which means TIDE Academy could be classified as an expensive “gimmick” at this point. And paying $8M or $12M for a STEM gimmick no one ever mentions does seem rather excessive.
Apparently, there was also a sizeable number of inter-district transfers; the number 80 has been floating around. This San Mateo County school had a partnership with Foothill College, which is not part of the San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD). This makes it sound as if San Mateo County residents paid for a Santa Clara County school.
The conclusion is fairly straightforward. The district created an experimental STEM school at a time when they expected growth. The growth never happened. The additional school is therefore now a costly surplus for maybe 130 SUHSD students, and the board did what a responsible board has to do: eliminate surplus costs.
What can voters learn from this?
Don’t give districts any bond money. This district had way too much funding already; you throw a bond measure in the middle, and they come up with “gimmicky” ideas like yet another school building teaching STEM or STEAM or “Mandarin Immersion” or “Parent Co-Op” or “Enrichment” or “GATE” or “Athletics” or whatever nonsense these super-rich districts can come up with to hide money from teachers and education.
What can RCSD learn from this?
Leave the “gimmicks” to private schools; that is what they are made for. The public education system must refocus on real education.
TIDE Academy is just one small Magnet School. RCSD is the richest district on the Peninsula, as it can afford 5 or 6 of these “gimmick schools”. SUHSD created TIDE when they expected growing enrollment; RCSD created these enormous budget holes when enrollment was shrinking.
If the small TIDE Academy Magnet School costs $8M per year to run, we can calculate RCSD is spending easily $40-50 million per year unnecessary “structure tax”. The secondary cost, the “externalities” for Redwood City residents, is even higher.
More Information
- The Almanac: 2026/01/28: District could close TIDE Academy.
- SMDaily: 2026/02/04: TIDE could move to Woodside HS
- Raven Report: 2026/01/2026: District proposes plans to shut down its shortest-lived school
- SMDaily: Sequoia district says TIDE less diverse than some big schools
- MA Chronicle 2026/12/01: Trustees Consider Closure of TIDE Academy
- Mercury News: TIDE Academy to close amid budget woes
- The Almanac 2026/02/26: TIDE parents file civil rights lawsuit
- MA Chronicle 2026/03/04: A Deeper Look into TIDE Financials and Data
- Transparent California: Sequoia Union High School District (SUHSD)
Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in all blog posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Redwood City Pulse or its staff.
