Student bussing legal fight rages on with new filing from Columbus City Schools
COLUMBUS, Ohio ( WCMH ) — The legal battle over whether Columbus City Schools should provide transportation for charter and nonpublic school students continued Monday, with the district filing its legal response to a state motion filed last week.
The district said Ohio Attorney General David Yost's motion on Sept. 25 was "without legal merit and should be dismissed" by the Ohio Supreme Court.
Yost filed an emergency motion against the district, asking the court to grant immediate relief to families affected by the district's decision to declare some charter and private school students' transportation impractical.
Columbus City Schools said Yost's emergency motion was filed on behalf of 120 families who refused payment from the district and instead are seeking mediation to get transportation for their students. The district said it is working to identify routes for those students while the mediation process is underway.
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In a statement on Monday, the district said it currently transports more than 37,000 students, including more than 9,000 charter and nonpublic students, under Ohio law.
Over the summer, the district identified several students it was transporting to charter and nonpublic schools beyond the law's requirements, "overcommitting our staffing levels and keeping us from providing reliable and efficient routing for all students," the district wrote.
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Yost filed a lawsuit against the district earlier in September, claiming Columbus City Schools failed to notify those students in a timely manner that the district would no longer provide transportation.
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A family affected by the district's decision also filed a lawsuit against the district, saying it did not receive adequate warning and that the district didn't offer legally required supplementary payment in place of not providing transportation.
Yost said that as of Sept. 4, 1,930 students were affected by the change in policy.
