TIDE Academy -- Parent Request for Transparency and Student Protection

Dear Ms. Thompson,

My name is [REDACTED], and my son, [REDACTED], is a 10th grade student at TIDE Academy. I am writing because the committee recommendation you presented on November 12 -- to begin a formal process that may lead to the closure of TIDE -- has already caused significant distress to our families and students.

[REDACTED] is a student who, for years, struggled to find a school environment where he felt safe and supported. We tried multiple schools, including private ones, and none of them provided what TIDE has given him: a sense of belonging, friends he trusts, teachers who know him personally, and academic programs that genuinely engage him. For the first time, he is thriving -- socially, emotionally, and academically.

TIDE was created intentionally by SUHSD, designed by district leadership, funded with voter-approved Measure A bond money, and built as a long-term STEM/STEAM investment. It is a purpose-built, state-of-the-art campus opened only five years ago.
Any proposal to consider closing TIDE so soon is not only destabilizing -- it contradicts the District's own commitments and obligations to taxpayers, who funded this school based on the promise of a permanent, innovative program.

Parents deserve to know:

• why TIDE was targeted without prior communication
• what data your committee used
• why small schools are being examined selectively
• and what alternatives were considered before recommending a closure process

I will be present at the November 19 meeting among other parents and we expect a clear, transparent explanation of how this recommendation was formed and why families were excluded from the initial review. Our community deserves accountability, and our students deserve stability -- not uncertainty.

We will not quietly accept a process that endangers a school intentionally built by the District and relied upon by so many families. Parent voices, including mine, must be fully included as this moves forward.

Sincerely,
[REDACTED]
TIDE Academy Parent
[REDACTED]