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A group of parents is threatening to recall members of the Sequoia Union High School District board and pressuring the superintendent to resign, after months of frustration over the district’s decision to close TIDE Academy.
“The voters have voted for the money that went into building TIDE. You have not served us. Crystal Leach is completely an inept superintendent,” said TIDE parent Johanna Mahal during the March 4 school board meeting.
In February, the school board unanimously voted to close TIDE this summer and move the 6-year-old school’s programs to Woodside High School in the fall. The district began exploring the closure of TIDE in November, saying that the small school in Menlo Park was a strain on its resources and its campus, built with $50 million in bond funds, had become too costly to operate.
“The hard truth is that the district does not have unlimited funds. We have an obligation to respond to an expanding list of needs, including meeting the growing social-emotional needs of students at every one of our school sites, and to continue attracting and retaining high-quality educators with competitive compensation in a high-cost region,” Superintendent Leach told this news organization in an email.
Mahal is leading a group of 24 parents in a recall effort that aims to unseat all three incumbent school board members whose terms end in 2028: Richard Ginn, Mary Beth Thompson and Maria Cruz. At the meeting, Mahal told the two other board members, Sathvik Nori and Amy Koo, not to seek reelection this fall.
TIDE Rising has also filed a civil rights lawsuit against the district in federal court, claiming disability discrimination because a large percentage of TIDE’s students have learning disabilities and are from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds. The group’s request for a temporary restraining order to keep the TIDE campus open beyond the end of the school year was denied on March 5.
“I’m hoping that the continued litigation and the recall will urge (Leach) to resign before we have to have her replaced, because we will have you replaced, Crystal Leach, I promise you that,” said Mahal during public comment.
To remove all elected officials, organizers must collect signatures from registered voters in the Sequoia district and file a petition with San Mateo County to add the recall election to the ballot. Mahal told this news organization that the committee is working toward getting the recall ready for the November 2026 midterm election.
“I would love to be able to show our young people that they can have agency, and, along with their parents and with the taxpayers, all the constituents of this area, that we have a right to remove people from office who aren’t doing what’s in the best interest of the community,” she added.
The school board’s decision to shut down TIDE has also angered a local taxpayer who doesn’t have students attending district schools.
Menlo Park resident Brielle Johnck said during the recent board meeting that she was devastated to hear about the closure as a voter who supported the district’s effort to open an alternative school serving primarily economically disadvantaged students.
TIDE Academy is located on Jefferson Drive in Menlo Park, east of Highway 101. The STEM school’s campus is in close proximity to many tech company headquarters, including Meta, which is about a mile-and-a-half away.
“Was there a robust reach-out to tech companies? These are the companies that want employees who have the very education that TIDE is offering. It just is shocking that in the middle of Silicon Valley, we’re gonna roll over and give up,” said Johnck.
While parents pursue a recall, Mahal said she would like to see new school board members who carry a wide breadth of knowledge in different areas of expertise and are not afraid to stand up to the superintendent and hold them accountable.
“It’s not about being right, it’s not about winning,” said Mahal, who added that parents involved in the recall are just passionate about setting an example for younger generations. ”That type of power and agency is something that’s a gift to give our young people.”
Leach added that district officials are not surprised that parents are upset about TIDE’s closure and understand that the TIDE community is now “acting out on their strong belief that TIDE should remain open.” Through parent and student testimonies, board engagements with parents and emails, she acknowledged that it was very clear the school was a “comfortable place” for students, however the district does not have the budget to support it.
TIDE Rising members have been actively fighting to save their children’s school since the board announced in November that it would be exploring the high school’s closure.
“This is not just about TIDE Academy. This is about litigations that are draining the district, mishandling and lack of transparency,” said Mahal. “It’s really a disregard for student stability and educational outcomes and they’ve lost confidence in so many ways, not just through TIDE’s closure.”
Parents organizing the recall said they will be working on collecting signatures from the community members within the districts represented by Ginn, Thompson and Cruz. Sequoia Union divides its territory into five districts, each electing one board member.
“I am fighting for all the other kids that are so deflated, that feel like something has been taken away from them and from their parents that don’t know what to do,” said Mahal.
Editor’s note: This article was updated to include comment from Sequoia Union High School District Superintendent Crystal Leach.
