by J.D. Davidson
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is threatening to sue the Columbus Public School District if it doesn’t restart transportation for charter- and private-school students.
About two weeks before school began last month, the state’s largest school district sent a letter to private- and charter-school parents saying busing would stop for students living within the district’s boundaries because it was impractical.
Yost says that’s illegal, sending a cease-and-desist letter to the district that warned the district to restart transporting hundreds of students or face a lawsuit from the state.
“Columbus City Schools decided not to comply with state law. You don’t get to do that,” Yost said. “We’ve got kids who are having their plans disrupted. The parents have already made a decision that they want to avail themselves to one of the other options the law allows, and this kind of strong-arm tactic will not stand.”
State law requires districts to provide transportation to all K-8 students who live more than 2 miles from their school. It also says a school can refuse to transport students if it’s found to be unreasonable or unnecessary or takes more than 30 minutes of direct travel time.
When it is impractical to transport a student, a board may offer payment to parents.
State law outlines six determining factors for districts to determine student transportation, including:
• The time and distance required to provide transportation.
• The number of pupils to be transported.
• The cost of providing transportation in terms of equipment, maintenance, personnel and administration.
• Whether similar or equivalent service is provided to other pupils eligible for transportation.
• Whether and to what extent the additional service unavoidably disrupts current transportation schedules.
• Whether other reimbursable types of transportation are available.
In its letter to parents, CPS said those six factors were involved in making its decision.
The district did offer other options, including payment, to parents.
“It appears that the district is refusing to provide students transportation to their schools of choice even while their families are validly challenging the districts’ refusal of transportation,” Yost said in his letter. “Ohio law is clear: if families challenge the district’s decision not to provide transportation, the district must transport the students to their schools of choice while those challenges are ongoing. For many of the affected students, their families received no notice of the district’s refusal of transportation until days before the start of the school year. Ohio law requires notice 30 days before the start of the school year for most students.”
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An Ohio native, J.D. Davidson is a veteran journalist with more than 30 years of experience in newspapers in Ohio, Georgia, Alabama and Texas. He has served as a reporter, editor, managing editor and publisher. Davidson is a regional editor for The Center Square.
