School overview
Rising Tide Charter Public School
How Rising Tide is governed and funded, and what its trustees and school leaders are implementing.
Who governs and funds this regional charter school?
Rising Tide serves grades 5-12 under a Massachusetts charter. Its Board of Trustees is the public governing body and appoints and evaluates the Head of School. The school is funded primarily through state-calculated charter tuition attributable to students' sending districts, plus transportation reimbursement, grants, fees, and other revenue; unlike a municipal district, it also carries its own facility and debt costs.
The Board is the governing authority
The official site lists eight trustees and describes the Board as accountable for educational mission, performance, and charter compliance.
FY26 planned income is $13.17 million
The 2024-25 annual report publishes an approved FY26 plan with $11.98 million in state tuition and transportation reimbursement and $13.17 million in total income.
Facilities compete with program spending
January minutes say charter facilities aid covers about half of capital costs, requiring operating revenue to support facilities and affecting programming and salary parity.
Enrollment directly changes revenue
The FY26 enrollment assumption was reduced from 610 to 605; by March the school reported 585 students while using expense savings to remain near break-even.
The published per-pupil rate is a revenue assumption, not a complete measure of classroom spending; Rising Tide also pays facility, debt, transportation, and other schoolwide costs from its budget.
What the official record shows
Calculated from the six published expense categories because the report's displayed total has an extra digit.
Nine approved Board minutes, four Board/subcommittee agenda records, and three schoolwide publications.
Major projects
Head of School leadership transition
Successor offer authorized; outgoing leader closeout underwayThe Board ran a formal search, included students, families, staff, and administrators in finalist feedback, and authorized a three-year offer to Zahra Williams. July's governance agenda still addressed the outgoing Head of School's final review.
- Board formed the search committee.
- Board approved a $15,000 consultant retainer and targeted a mid-April offer.
- Board advanced Zahra Williams after stakeholder interviews.
- Board authorized a three-year offer at a $155,000 base salary.
- Governance agenda scheduled the outgoing leader's final goal review.
Funding
Board-approved search consultant funds; the minutes do not name a separate account. The proposed successor compensation is part of the school operating budget, funded primarily by charter tuition and other school revenue.
Enrollment and revenue stabilization
High-school recruitment remains activeRising Tide has full middle-school entry demand but is working to improve grades 8-to-9 retention and high-school enrollment as actual enrollment remains below the original FY26 assumption.
- Board reduced the FY26 budget assumption from 610 to 605 students.
- Enrollment was about 595; recruitment focused on upper grades.
- Enrollment was 585 and the school forecast roughly break-even operations.
- Board agenda scheduled a 2026-27 enrollment update.
Funding
State-calculated per-pupil charter tuition and transportation reimbursement; the updated FY26 plan assumed 605 students at $19,872 per pupil.
Athletics and activity transportation van
Vehicle ordered; operating evaluation plannedThe school ordered a $60,300 van to reduce transportation barriers and compare its cost with hired buses for athletics and other trips.
- Updated FY26 budget identified a school van among planned expenditures.
- The vehicle had been ordered and its corrected cost was recorded as $60,300.
Funding
The vehicle is included in FY26 spending; the minutes do not identify a separate grant or capital account.
Recent alerts by topic
Identity was checked against NCES and Massachusetts DESE. The recurring collector follows the official trustee minutes archive and enumerated current Board, annual-report, handbook, and program publications. All 16 collected records were reviewed chronologically; the image-based FY26 capital-plan table was also inspected visually.
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