DAYTON — Dayton Public Schools Board of Education is fighting back against the state’s new busing law.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 11:00, in July, part of the state budget made it illegal for Dayton Public Schools to provide RTA bus passes to high school students for transportation.
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In a lawsuit filed on Aug. 11, DPS calls the law “arbitrary, unreasonable, and discriminatory” and asks a judge to temporarily block the state from enforcing it.
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DPS claims they are the only school district in the state that could have been impacted by the law.
In addition, the district said its students will suffer “irreparable harm.”
“Without RTA passes, certain students will be unable to consistently attend school. Some students will not be able to attend school at all ... There will be a high risk that students will skip school because of the burdens necessary to get to and from school,” court documents state.
News Center spoke with family members dropping off and picking up freshman students for their first day back on Tuesday.
“I’m the bus for the next three days,” one student’s great-grandmother said.
The district said it had no choice but to pass off the responsibility.
“I don’t know if I have to bring her or not. I hope not. I hope not,” the woman said.
In April, News Center 7 reported that State Representative Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) announced an amendment to the state budget.
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This came after someone shot and killed 18-year-old Alfred Hale III near the RTA bus hub in downtown Dayton.
Hale was on his way to school when he was killed.
In the district’s lawsuit, DPS argued the amendment was unconstitutional and said it wants to see its high school students back on public transportation.
News Center 7’s Mason Fletcher tried to reach out to Plummer for comment Tuesday night, but didn’t hear back.
DPS said it doesn’t have enough buses or drivers for its high school students.
The lawsuit claims that without RTA, many students can not get to class safely.
“...if DPS does not provide transportation to its students, many of them will not have a safe means of traveling to and from school,” the lawsuit reads.
The district added that it would cost about $16 million a year to use yellow buses for high school students.
“DPS cannot offer to transport all high school students by school bus while at the same time remaining fiscally responsible to its students and community,” the lawsuit reads.
The district has a hearing with a judge in Franklin County on Thursday.
News Center 7 will continue to follow this story.
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