Parents of a student have filed a class action lawsuit against the Columbus Board of Education because their child was denied bus transportation to a charter or private school.
Samuel and Christina Ellis filed the lawsuit Thursday in Franklin County Common Pleas Court as the board fights another lawsuit on the issue that Attorney General Dave Yost filed earlier this month.
The Ellis family's lawsuit claims that the school board refuses to comply with its statutory obligation to provide transportation to all students within its jurisdiction.
The lawsuit says the board's decision not to provide transportation is "causing serious harm to the well-being of students, their families, private and charter schools, and the markets for educational students for K-12 students."
School districts can determine that transportation is impractical for students based on several factors, including the time and distance required, the number of students to be transported, costs and whether additional services disrupt transportation schedules.
The district notified 1,380 charter and non-public school students that they wouldn’t receive busing this school year, because of the state law that says public schools don't have to provide transportation if students are traveling more than 30 minutes. It offered financial compensation to the students' parents.
At its Sept. 3 meeting, the school board said it was impractical to transport another 309 students.
About 150 students have challenged that decision.
The suit acknowledges that the state can determine transportation to be impractical.
But the suit said that the district did not notify the Ellis family more than 30 days before school started that their child wouldn't be bused.
The suit also said that the school district is not paying the stipend the law requires when transportation isn't being provided.
According to the lawsuit, the class action is brought on behalf of anyone with children in the school district who have been denied transportation or have not received the full stipend.
A school district spokesman said in an email Friday that the schools have not yet been served with the complaint and would respond in court after receiving it.
Yost filed suit in the Ohio Supreme Court against Columbus City Schools after warning the district to resume busing most or all of the affected students.
