(The Center Square) – Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost says a lawsuit aimed at forcing the state’s largest school system to provide transportation for charter- and private-school students is not over.
Yost’s response this week comes after Columbus City Schools decided late last week to resume busing for more than 100 students whose parents wanted mediation after the district stopped transportation in August.
Yost had filed an emergency motion with the Ohio Supreme Court to force the district to once again bus those who opted for mediation rather than payment instead of busing.
“It shouldn’t take a lawsuit and an emergency motion to decide to follow the law,” Yost said. “Columbus City Schools admitted the law was to transport the children. Glad these kids are finally getting the transportation they were entitled.”
Earlier this month, Yost made good on a threat to sue the district over its decision to stop busing for all charter- and private-school students.
About two weeks before school began in August, 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.
On Friday, the district announced it sent a letter to those parents who rejected payment instead of busing and requested mediation, saying new routes will be added and transportation will resume while the mediation process is ongoing.
The district said the change could also impact pick-up and drop-off times for more than 1,000 other charter- and private-school students.
“But this is not the end,” Yost said. “There are more kids who still are not receiving transportation despite the district’s clear obligation to provide it. Beyond the emergency motion itself, this lawsuit will continue. We’ll continue to fight for the students that Columbus Schools is leaving behind.”
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.
In a statement last month, Columbus Superintendent Angela Chapman said the district continues to fight a nationwide bus driver shortage and established the same busing guidelines for private- and charter-school students as it did for public school students who go to a school outside their assigned district.
