Focused on Their Goal

It was a serious procession one sunny morning last week: soon-to-be sixth-graders Zulma Arellano, Julio Ponce and Kareem Chico walking with heavy book bags strapped on their shoulders, followed by five mothers, three younger siblings and a two-person volunteer camera crew that recorded their trek to a Tustin middle school.

The mothers hope that a videotape of their children’s path to A.G. Currie Middle School will persuade school officials of what their pleas so far have not: that the children in their neighborhood need bus transportation to the school, 1.4 miles away.

The women--Luz Guzman, Lydia Ponce, Elvira Figueroa, Beatriz Figueroa and Lourdes Lomeli--are part of a group of more than two dozen concerned parents from the area who have, since June, written letters to the school district, attended school board meetings and met with Tustin Unified Supt. George Mannon.

So far, school officials have denied their request for a bus. The district says the children’s route is safe and too short to merit school bus transportation. According to district guidelines, students in grades six to eight must live more than two miles from school to qualify for bus service.

An additional school bus would cost the district $35,000 for the year, according to district spokesman Mark Elliot. Families in the district pay $255 a year in bus fees.

“We asked for a bus,” said Zulma’s mother, Guzman. “They said no because this is close and safe. We think it’s not that close, and not that safe.”

The women said they were most worried about their children crossing a bridge on McFadden Avenue, which passes over the Costa Mesa Freeway.

The bridge is enclosed by a tall fence, and the sidewalk is more than 5 feet wide. But as cars and trucks whiz over the four-lane bridge, it is obvious that until drivers are at its summit, they cannot see anything that might be in the road ahead on the downward slope of the bridge.

Another location that concerns parents is the intersection of Sycamore and Pasadena avenues, which includes both an onramp and an exit from the freeway. Children do not have to cross the street at this intersection, but the parents say the speed with which vehicles come on and off the freeway creates a hazard. The district’s suggested route does not include the intersection.

Most of the women do not have cars, or their husbands take the family car to work. They say their only alternative to allowing the children to walk to school alone would be to accompany them on the trip, a journey of more than 5 miles for two round-trips a day.

For parents like Elvira Figueroa, who has children in both Robert P. Heideman Elementary and Currie, walking her 11-year-old daughter to middle school would be impossible. Heideman doesn’t open for students until 7:45 a.m., which would leave her only five minutes to walk her eldest daughter to the middle school in time for the start of classes there.

Figueroa also worries about cold or rainy days. Rather than risk her daughter getting sick by walking in bad weather--particularly since the family has no health insurance--Figueroa said she would keep her daughter home.

Tustin schools spokesman Elliot said there would be nine crossing guards stationed between Heideman Elementary on Williams Street and Currie Middle School on Sycamore Avenue.

“We already have children in grades one through five walking that route, and we have not had any problems or complaints,” Elliot said. “We feel it’s very safe. We’ve checked with the Police Department.”

Parents also have complained that the route is too long for children to carry their textbooks, gym clothes and musical instruments.

In a letter to one family, Supt. Mannon responded that there are enough textbooks in the classrooms for children to leave their books at home and use a second copy in class. Mannon declined to be interviewed.

In yet another letter to Mannon on Aug. 11, the parents requested to have the issue placed on the agenda for today’s school board meeting. They hope the video will help them press their point.

Elliot said the issue will not be on the agenda. Rather, Mannon will answer the parents’ latest questions in another letter, Elliot said. But it is possible that the parents will bring it up during the public comments portion of the meeting.

At a brisk pace, the videotaped journey took Zulma, Julio and Kareem 32 minutes. When they arrived at their new school, they dropped their backpacks to the ground and bolted for the drinking fountain. Then they checked out the campus where they will spend the next three years.

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Dangerous Walk?

A group of parents want Tustin Unified School District to provide bus service for their children because they believe their walk to A.G. Currie Middle School is dangerous.