Several parents gathered outside the Sequoia Union High School District offices on Sept. 9 to announce an effort to recall three trustees. They said they have the support of hundreds of voters in the district.
The parents said their trustees, who represent 9,000 students across the Mid-Peninsula, are failing them. They cited a string of lawsuits, a superintendent they said hasn’t been checked, and poor communication about the closure of a small school called TIDE Academy.
TIDE first opened in 2019 and closed this year after a unanimous board vote in February.
Olga Yushina said TIDE was a safe haven for her child. “It was the first time in Alex's life when he really was not opposed to the idea of going to school.” And, she said, he wasn’t the only one. “It was a safe space for lots and lots of very different kids: neurotypical and special.”
The district determined the school was too expensive for the small number of students it served (about 200) — but parents said district leaders closed it without adequately soliciting their feedback or financial support.
Superintendent Crystal Leach denied a lack of transparency. In an emailed statement to KALW she wrote that the district held eight formal community engagement sessions and posted frequent updates online.
But parents said the community engagement sessions were disingenuous because the district already had a plan to close the school. Parent Jason Primuth pointed to subpoenaed email records between the district and a public relations consultant that he said directly referenced planned meetings, emails, and talking points for the closure.
“They had an entire communications plan,” Primuth said. “All this sort of stuff was scripted in advance.”
“Working with a community engagement consultant before making a public announcement is not evidence of a lack of transparency,” Leach wrote in the email to KALW. “It is evidence of a commitment to doing community engagement well.”
Parents are seeking to recall Mary Beth Thompson, Rich Ginn, and Maria Cruz because none of them are up for re-election until 2028. The other two spots will be on voters' ballots in November.
Thompson wrote in an email to KALW, “Hard public decisions are not a failure of oversight. They are part of responsible governance.”
In a phone call she said she had listened carefully to parents, including meeting them at a local coffee shop on the weekend. She called the decision to close TIDE “devastating.” She said a recall would divert district resources and attention from students.
Cruz echoed Thompson’s concern about the cost of a recall election, writing, “This money belongs in our classrooms, not funding a political agenda.”
Ginn responded to KALW’s email by pointing to his website.
The next step for the parents is to collect signatures. They need 20% of voters from each trustee’s area to sign the petition. They have 120 days. If they succeed, the district will have a special recall election.
