Ohio Attorney Dave Yost is asking the state Supreme Court to force Columbus City Schools to bus charter and nonpublic school students.
Yost filed a lawsuit against CCS earlier this month, seeking to legally compel the district to bus 1,380 students. CCS had declared it impractical to provide transpoartation for those students.
Yost filed an emergency motion in that lawsuit on Wednesday, claiming that state law requires a district to provide busing after a student challenges a transportation decision and while the challenge is ongoing.
“Parents are being forced to quit their jobs, rearrange their lives and scramble for transportation, while the school board fails to meet its legal duties. This cannot wait – we need the court to act now,” Yost said in a statement.
CCS declared hundreds of students ineligible for transportation under a state law that says public schools don't have to provide transportation if students are traveling more than 30 minutes.
The change came after years of bus driver shortages and an increase in the number of families taking taxpayer-funded vouchers to send their kids to private schools.
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In early September, around 149 students challenged that decision, asking the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce for official timings of their bus routes.
Over the course of several meetings, the board of education has declared it impractical to bus more than 1,800 students and has offered financial compensation to the students’ parents.
The Department of Education sets compensation rates, which are between $583 and $1,167 per student this year.
