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Parents and students urge Tustin Unified to add bus service to Legacy Magnet Academy
Summary
Multiple students and parents told the board Legacy Magnet Academy lacks safe, reliable transportation and asked TUSD to provide bus service; speakers cited scheduling conflicts, contract limits with First Student and a $25 per-ride specialized service cost estimate.
Parents and students told the Tustin Unified School District board that Legacy Magnet Academy needs district-provided bus service to ensure students can arrive on time and travel safely.
At public comment, student Ximena asked the board to "give us transportation to and from the school," saying her family shares one car and her father cannot always drive her. Parent Maria Montes, speaking through translation, said the family often must pick up a car from a spouse's job to shuttle children between schools. Jessica Martinez, a Legacy student, told the board she now attends 0 period at 7:30 a.m. and asked the board to "give us a bus" so students with early schedules and working parents have equitable access to school.
Several parents described practical barriers. Erica Martinez said rideshare companies generally do not allow children under 13 to ride alone, public transit routes do not align with school start times and walking routes can be unsafe because of construction and incomplete sidewalks. She said the district's contracted bus provider, First Student, "can't work with us" under current arrangements, and that a specialized private rideshare she found charges about $25 per ride — "about $9,000 over the school year" for a single child.
Other speakers, including Mia Sandoval and Maria Sandoval, described multi-child scheduling challenges and said past requests for bus service have been denied or left unresolved. Maria Sandoval said repeated trips to seek eligibility information had not produced clear answers about how a school becomes eligible for service.
The board did not take action during public comment; subsequent agenda items proceeded through routine hearings, policy updates and personnel approvals. Parents and students requested the board direct staff to evaluate eligibility and options for adding bus routes to serve Legacy Magnet Academy, but no specific staff directive or vote on transportation was recorded in the meeting minutes.
Next steps: families said they expect the district to provide follow-up on eligibility and possible timelines for adding service. The board did not set a public date for a response during the meeting.
