First Student California Layoffs 2026: What Employees Should Know

What the filing says

These are the details as First Studentreported them to the state. The EDD publishes every notice, and these figures come from the state's report as retrieved on Aug 13, 2026.

How much notice the law requires

California's WARN Act requires 60 days of advance written notice before a covered mass layoff, and its only statutory exception is a physical calamity or an act of war — far narrower than federal law's three. Who is covered and how the thresholds are counted is in our California WARN Act guide.

First Student severance: what to check before you sign

A severance offer is not the notice pay the WARN Act describes. Severance you were already promised — in a contract, a handbook, or a union agreement — cannot be used to satisfy that obligation, though Labor Code section 1402 does let an employer reduce a back-pay award by voluntary payments it was never required to make. A release may also give up more than you expect. Justin reviews severance agreements before workers sign. What to check before you decide is in our full guide to the California WARN Act.

Two things worth doing this week either way. File for unemployment now — WARN money does not reduce it, and the filings here run through Jul 1, 2026, so you do not have to wait for your last day. And keep every document, including the notice itself and anything showing when it arrived.

What your notice was required to include

Timing is only half of what Labor Code section 1401 asks for. The notice itself has to contain specific things, and California added most of this list for notices issued on or after January 1, 2026. This notice falls after that date. If you kept your copy, read it against the full six-item checklist in our WARN Act guide — everything federal law requires, whether transition help is being coordinated, working contact details for your workforce board and for the employer itself, and CalFresh information.

Source: Labor Code section 1401, as amended by SB 617, effective January 1, 2026. A notice missing something from that list is not automatically a violation with a remedy attached — whether a gap matters depends on the employer, the action, and what else happened.

Questions people are asking

Where a layoff can raise a legal question

A layoff is lawful on its own, and nothing below is a statement about First Student. These are the places California law can still come into play, depending on the facts of your own situation.

• The severance you were asked to signA release can give up claims you did not know you had, and the terms are sometimes negotiable.
• How you were selectedA reduction in force still cannot be used to cut someone for a protected reason such as age, disability, pregnancy, or a complaint they made.
• Your final paycheckCalifornia sets when final wages are due at termination, and unpaid time or accrued vacation can carry penalties on top of the wages.

General information about California law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.

What has been reported

Press coverage of this layoff, summarized and attributed. This is reporting rather than the filing itself, and we did not independently verify it.

The Fresno Bee reported that First Student, an Ohio-based provider of general and special education student transportation, will lay off 170 employees in Fresno County effective July 1 after Fresno Unified opted not to renew its contract; in April 2025 the district's board approved a deal with Zum Services to take over transportation.

"First Student is grateful for the opportunity to have served the students at Fresno Unified School District. It has been an honor to support the district, its students, and the broader community, and we extend our best wishes moving forward," a company spokesperson said in a statement to The Bee.

Sources: The Fresno Bee (via Yahoo News) (opens in a new tab) · GV Wire (opens in a new tab)

What the numbers show

• The 170 affected positions are in Fresno.
• The shortest gap between notice and last day here is 61 days, close to the statewide median of 61 days across every notice on file.
• Within Fresno County, this accounts for 17% of all workers covered by WARN notices on file, across 11 employers.
• By headcount it sits in the top 20% of the 599 employer layoffs tracked here.
• The 170 workers leaving First Student re-enter a job market where Fresno County unemployment stood at 7.7% in June 2026, above the 5.2% statewide rate (Bureau of Labor Statistics, not seasonally adjusted).

These are counts and comparisons drawn from the published filings, not findings about First Student.

Free job-search help near Fresno

America's Job Center of California is the state's no-cost network for laid-off workers: help filing and keeping unemployment benefits, federally funded retraining, and résumé and interview coaching. Your WARN notice may name one; this is the closest to the site in this filing.

• Reverend Swillis Neighborhood Youth Center (NYC) (opens in a new tab)

  1805 E. California Avenue, Fresno, CA 93706 · 559-264-1048

  Affiliate center (partial services) · about 7.6 miles from the Fresno site

Locations and hours change — confirm before visiting, or find another center with the EDD's center locator (opens in a new tab). Directory: U.S. Department of Labor, Jul 31, 2026; distances are straight-line from the address in the filing.

Other layoffs filed in Fresno County around the same time

11 employers have WARN notices on file in Fresno County, covering 1,024 workers. These filed within about a quarter of this one.

• Foods Co107 workers
• FreshKO Produce Services LLC58 workers
• Centria Autism48 workers

Listed because they appear in the same county in the same public data. No connection between these employers is implied.

California wage claims filed against First Student

California employers face claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), which lets an employee sue for civil penalties over Labor Code violations on behalf of the state. The state publishes every filing. 5 PAGA cases naming this employer are on that record, including the settlements below.

These are outcomes in other people’s cases, obtained by other lawyers, taken from the state’s public filing record. They are not results of this firm, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome. What any individual recovers depends on their own hours, pay records, and dates.

• Proposed settlement · 2025

  $3,500,000

  School bus drivers and other non-exempt employees in California allege they were not paid for off-the-clock work before and after shifts, were denied meal and rest breaks, and were not reimbursed for business expenses. The parties have reached a proposed settlement to resolve these claims, which is now before the court for preliminary approval. The settlement provides a maximum payment of $3,500,000 to cover class members' claims, PAGA penalties, attorney fees, costs, and service awards.

  Covered The Driver Class contains individuals employed by First Student, Inc. and/or First Management Services, LLC as non-exempt Drivers in California from November 6, 2014 to November 8, 2023. The Non-Driver Class contains individuals employed by First Student, Inc. and/or First Management Services, LLC in non-exempt positions other than as Driver in California from August 1, 2019 to November 8, 2023.. The settlement resolved class claims as well as PAGA penalties.

  Employees covered

  8,769

  Attorneys' fees

  $1,166,666

  To the state (LWDA)

  $187,500

  United States District Court, Northern District of California · l8-CV-07378-JST · A settlement is not an admission of liability.

• Proposed settlement · 2021

  $1,475,000

  Bus attendants, bus aids, and bus monitors in California alleged they were not paid split shift premiums and minimum wages, and did not receive accurate wage statements. The employer denied wrongdoing. The parties agreed to settle for $1,475,000 to resolve the claims on a class and PAGA basis.

  Covered All individuals employed by First Student, Inc. or First Student Management, LLC in the position of Attendant, Bus Aid or Bus Monitor in the state of California as hourly non-exempt employees at any time during the Class Period. The settlement resolved class claims as well as PAGA penalties.

  Attorneys' fees

  $491,617

  To the state (LWDA)

  $66,840

  UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT CENTRAL DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA · CIV DS 1930739 · First Student denied liability; a settlement is not an admission.

• Court-approved settlement · 2017

  $475,000

  Bus drivers employed by First Student, Inc. at its Riverside and Corona locations reached a class action settlement. The settlement resolves claims about wage and hour practices. The court granted final approval of the settlement and entered judgment.

  Covered All persons who are or were employed by First Student, Inc. or First Student Management, LLC as bus drivers at First Student, Inc.'s Riverside (location 20816) and Corona (location 20414) locations from April 12, 2007 through August 19, 2016, the date of entry of the Preliminary Approval Order.. The settlement resolved class claims as well as PAGA penalties.

  Attorneys' fees

  $158,333

  To the state (LWDA)

  $3,750

  Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles · A settlement is not an admission of liability.

One further settlement is on the record for this employer.

A PAGA case is not a class action, and there is nothing to opt out of. A PAGA settlement resolves civil penalties owed to the state — most of which the state keeps — and it does not necessarily resolve your own unpaid wages, missed break premiums, or final-paycheck penalties. If you worked here and were not paid correctly, that is a separate question worth asking about. How California wage claims work.