COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost has sent a warning to Columbus City Schools 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.
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According to the state, the district is legally obligated to provide transportation for nonpublic school students who live within district boundaries and no more than 30 minutes from the public school they would be assigned to if they attended.
Just before the start of the 2024-2025 school year, the district stopped complying with the law and provided little notice to the families who were impacted, according to Yost.
“We were actually told literally maybe 10 days before school started that our daughter was deemed impractical,” said Sherman Loy, the parent of a charter school student told 10TV last week.
Yost warned CCS that state law has to be followed.
“Columbus City Schools has decided not to comply with the state law. You don’t get to do that,” Yost said. “We’ve got kids who are having their plans disrupted.”
The notice from the school to impacted parents read in part:
“Dear parents and guardians of charter/non-public school students, you are receiving this letter because Columbus City Schools has determined that under section 3327.02 of the Ohio revised code, it is impractical to transport your student(s) to and from his/her charter/non-public school.
This determination means that your student(s) will no longer be transported by CCS’s Transportation department.
Factors involved in making this decision:
- The time and distance required to provide the transportation
- The number of students being transported
- The cost to provide the transportation
- Whether similar or equivalent service is provided to other students eligible for transportation
- Whether, and to what extent, the additional service unavoidably disrupts current transportation schedules
- Whether other reimbursable types of transportation are available."
Alternative options and solutions were given to parents including an offer of payment in lieu of transportation or possible mediation to solve the matter.
Saturn Messina, a student at Metro Early College High School, is one of those students impacted by busing changes. She spoke during public comment at the CCS Board of Education meeting Tuesday night, asking its members to make a change.
"I have lost my ability to feel safe making my way to school,” Messina said.
Messina said the district provided free COTA bus passes as an alternative to affected families, but its something she believes is not suitable for kids between the ages of 6 and 18.
"I am consistently afraid to ride COTA every morning. I carry personal alarms and I have emergency contacts set up for that just in case,” Messina said.
Columbus City Schools says they have received the letter and are currently reviewing it.