COLUMBUS, Ohio — Columbus City Schools has issued a response to Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost after he threatened a lawsuit against them after the district notified some parents of charter and private school students that they could no longer transport their children to school.
Yost sent a cease-and-desist letter Tuesday, warning the district to resume transporting the hundreds of impacted students or they could face a lawsuit from the state.
Shortly after 2:30 p.m., Yost posted on X that it had been "crickets" from the district.
In CCS's letter to Yost, sent just before 5 p.m., they explain that "due to circumstances beyond its control," it had to re-evaluate its transportation operations going into the current school year. During the re-evaluation, the district says it realized it was unable to transport students that they are not required to transport.
The district currently transports around 37,000 students, including approximately 9,000 charter and private school students "who have been deemed eligible and practical to transport."
CCS says that Yost's letter, "conflates the ineligibility for transportation determinations" with the "impractical to transport determinations." They add that those two separate statutes involve different decision-making processes and remedies.
The letter further defends the district's choices by addressing the "30-minute rule." This statute permits all Ohio public school districts to determine that a student is ineligible for public school district transportation if it takes more than 30 minutes of travel time to get from the school bus to the public school they would be assigned by the district.
"CCS has no legal obligation to transport ineligible students under R.C. 3327.01 or 3327.02, and students deemed ineligible for transportation are not entitled to mediation and/or payment in lieu of transportation," the letter states.
They say that if a parent or guardian believes their child was incorrectly deemed ineligible, they can request an official timing, which would be conducted by the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce. CCS and ODEW have coordinated a time schedule to conduct official timings upon request.
Just before the start of the 2024-2025 school year, the state claims that CCS did not provide an early enough notice that certain students would not be transported by the district.
The letter addresses that claim, citing that the statute requires that determinations be made no later than 30 days before school is scheduled to begin.
The district says that after the determinations were made, CCS issued letters via certified mail to each family, each of which included an offer for payment in lieu of transportation.
"Based on the above, your threat to file a lawsuit against CCS is an improper infringement upon CCS’s right to make ineligibility and impractical to transport determinations," the letter says. "Your threat to file a lawsuit against CCS is also an infringement upon the equal rights of public school districts and community or nonpublic school parents/guardians to due process."
Superintendent Angela Chapman sent a message to families about the matter Thursday evening addressing the matter, saying that she is "leaning into this issue" with her team.
"We cannot return to the previous transportation system that failed too many of our students – district, community and nonpublic alike. But I am committed to working with all partners to find a path forward for the sake of all our students," Chapman said.
Read the district's full letter to Yost below:
"In reference to your September 3, 2024, letter, CCS believes its actions are consistent with the laws promulgated by the General Assembly and is complying with its legal obligations to transport students.
As a point of information, due to circumstances beyond its control, CCS found it necessary to re-evaluate its transportation operations. Even with improved efficiencies, the re-evaluation led to the realization that it was untenable for CCS to continue to transport students that it is not required to transport. At present, CCS is transporting approximately 37,000 students. This number includes approximately 9,000 community and nonpublic school students who have been deemed eligible and practical to transport. CCS, and contracted vendors, cover 470 routes. For context, these routes include transportation to 113 CCS school buildings and up to 167 community and nonpublic school buildings.
Your letter conflates the ineligibility for transportation determinations, under R.C. 3327.01, with the impractical to transport determinations under R.C. 3327.02. These two statutes involve different decision-making processes and remedies available to the families of students.
CCS staff is working with the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce (“ODEW”) and families daily regarding CCS’s determinations. R.C. 3327.01, which is commonly known as the 30-minute rule, specifically permits CCS, and all Ohio public school districts, to determine that a student is ineligible for public school district transport if “such transportation would require more than thirty minutes of direct travel time as measured by school bus from the public school building to which the pupils would be assigned if attending the public school designated by the district of residence.”
CCS has no legal obligation to transport ineligible students under R.C. 3327.01 or 3327.02, and students deemed ineligible for transportation are not entitled to mediation and/or payment in lieu of transportation. Instead, either CCS or the student’s parent/or guardian can request an official timing to determine eligibility for CCS transportation. CCS and ODEW have coordinated a time schedule to conduct official timings upon request. If an official timing, conducted by ODEW, determines that the afore-mentioned distance is under 30 minutes, then an impractical to transport review is conducted.
As indicated previously, R.C. 3327.02 governs impractical to transport determinations. R.C. 3327.02(A) specifically provides that CCS “may determine that it is impractical to transport a pupil who is eligible for transportation” using the following 6 factors:
(1) The time and distance required to provide the transportation;
(2) The number of pupils to be transported;
(3) The cost of providing transportation in terms of equipment, maintenance, personnel, and administration;
(4) Whether similar or equivalent service is provided to other pupils eligible for transportation;
(5) Whether and to what extent the additional service unavoidably disrupts current transportation schedules;
(6) Whether other reimbursable types of transportation are available.
CCS, working with an outside consultant (Ohio School Board Association), believes that it has substantially complied with all the requirements set forth in R.C. 3327.02.
Your letter also references timelines. R.C. 3327.02(B) describes the process for making impractical to transport determinations. This section requires that such determinations be made not later than thirty (30) days before a community or nonpublic school is scheduled to begin classes, and the Superintendent made those determinations within the required time. After the CCS Board of Education passed the required Resolution to effectuate the Superintendent’s impracticality determinations, CCS issued letters, via certified mail, to the individual families with a description of the reasons for the Superintendent’s determination. The letter also included an offer for payment in lieu of transportation. Such an offer could only be made after the Board passed the above-referenced Resolution.
R.C. 3327.02(F), promulgated by the General Assembly, clearly sets forth the remedies available to families. It provides, in part, that if a public school district fails to provide transportation for impractical students during mediation, DEW shall order the school district to pay a fine, up to $2,500, to the student’s parent/guardian. The statute also authorizes DEW to implement a fine, if, following a Chapter 119 hearing, it is determined that it is not impractical to transport a student. Foremost, the statute provides for an adequate remedy at law for all parties.
Based on the above, your threat to file a lawsuit against CCS is an improper infringement upon CCS’s right to make ineligibility and impractical to transport determinations. Your threat to file a lawsuit against CCS also serves to usurp and circumvent the authority of the General Assembly, which promulgated the above-referenced statutes. Finally, your threat to file a lawsuit against CCS is also an infringement upon the equal rights of public school districts and community or nonpublic school parents/guardians to due process.
I am hopeful that my response to your letter provides clarity in this transportation matter. Thank you for your attention."
Read Superintendant Angela Chapman's full letter below:
Dear Columbus Community,
This summer, the Columbus City Schools Transportation Department made a decision that impacted families of children who attend community and nonpublic schools in our district. The change was necessary, and has improved overall transportation for our students, but we could have made a stronger and more sensitive effort to communicate with the families that have been impacted.
As a Columbus City Schools parent, I understand the challenges families experience getting their children ready to go to school each day. If I learned weeks before the first day of school that the bus I was expecting to transport my child wasn’t coming, I would be upset and I would want answers. In hindsight, our outreach could have been more intentional, and our tone could have better reflected the gravity of the decision. Our efforts fell short in this way, and I apologize for the undue anxiety this has caused families.
As superintendent, I feel a sense of responsibility for the well-being of all the children in our district, whether or not they attend one of our CCS schools. School is where students learn, but also where they develop their sense of self, make friends and navigate social situations. That begins on the bus that takes them to school.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, transportation has been one of our district’s top challenges. For more than three years, we’ve experienced a nationwide shortage of drivers. This has hindered metropolitan transit systems and school districts in every community, including our own. For our district, this has meant fewer drivers picking up more students who live further away from each other and their schools. For too many of our students, it has resulted in earlier pickup times, longer rides and sometimes late arrivals. Our students deserve better than this.
To address this issue, the Transportation Department took a comprehensive approach that included hiring more drivers, but also reviewing our overall transportation practices. What we found is that we were transporting students to community and nonpublic schools who live more than 30 minutes from their school of choice or whose chosen school is too difficult to provide reliable transportation to.
Our new practice, which is consistent with Ohio law, is to serve these students the same way we serve Columbus City Schools students who choose to go to a different school than the one assigned to them. Whether you attend a Columbus district school or a community or nonpublic school, if transportation to that school significantly disrupts the travel time for other students, different transportation arrangements need to be made. The result of this practice has been shorter routes and on-time arrivals for approximately 37,000 students – including almost 9,000 students attending community and nonpublic schools.
However, we recognize that students who are not receiving district transportation still need to get to school, and it is important to me that Columbus City Schools is part of that solution. That’s why I’m leaning into this issue with our team. We cannot return to the previous transportation system that failed too many of our students – district, community and nonpublic alike. But I am committed to working with all partners to find a path forward for the sake of all our students.