If you agree, I will print.
This evening I'm reporting out on the work of the Board Committee that has been reviewing enrollment, program offerings, and the long-term fiscal health of our district.
Over the past several years, the District has been looking closely at its structural deficit and at enrollment patterns throughout the district and at our small schools as part of a broader effort to understand how our resources are being used and whether we are able to sustain strong, equitable programs for students at all of our schools.
As a Board, we have a responsibility to make sure that every student in Sequoia Union High School District has access to strong, diverse, and sustainable educational programs. What we are seeing with TIDE Academy is that, because it is such a small school, it requires a disproportionate amount of resources to operate, and over time that means students there are likely to have fewer classes, electives, and program options than we can offer when resources are better aligned across the district.
Our committee is recommending that the Board ask the Superintendent to develop and bring forward a clear plan for how the district would discuss and consider a possible closure of TIDE Academy. That plan should lay out:
– how and when we will communicate with students, families, and staff;
– how the community will be informed and invited into the conversation; and
– what information and data will be brought to the Board as we deliberate.
I want to be very clear: no one on this Board wants to close a school. We understand how deeply that possibility affects students, families, and staff, and we do not take that impact lightly. At the same time, we have a duty to look honestly at our overall financial picture — including our structural deficit and the costs of operating very small schools — and ask whether we are creating the best possible opportunities for all of our students, including those currently at TIDE.
Rich and I, as the two board members on the committee, are going to bring forward during the future agenda items portion of tonight's meeting a future agenda item relating to Tide. We would like the Superintendent and her team to develop a process that includes all legal steps required to consider the potential of closing Tide. The plan should include plenty of opportunity for input from students, parents, employees, and community members as well as clear communication to all stakeholders about what the potential impacts on each of them will be if a decision to close Tide is made. We will ask that at the December 10 board meeting the Superintendent present her proposed process. The process should enable the board to make a decision by the end of February about whether to close Tide after this academic year.
