DAYTON — A new proposal by a local state lawmaker is aimed at defusing the controversy over Dayton Public Schools high school students transferring buses at the Greater Dayton Regional Transit Authority (RTA) hub in downtown Dayton.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WHIO-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
State Representative Desiree Tims (D-Dayton) believes her solution just applies common sense and undoes what she calls “an archaic, backwards process” to approaching school busing in Ohio.
“It will prioritize Dayton Public School students on Dayton Public School buses,” Tims said. “Pretty simple.”
The district, which has about 13,000 students, takes about 10,000 elementary and middle school students to and from school every day on yellow school buses. They devote a lot of busing capital to taking thousands of private, parochial, and charter school students to their schools.
TRENDING STORIES:
- Well-known chicken chain to open 10 locations in Dayton, Columbus
- Man dies trying to save his dogs from Ohio house fire
- New vendor coming to popular area food hall
“We keep being asked, ‘What are you doing about transportation?’ And we keep saying, ‘Were it not for having to transport charter schools, we would transport every child we have and we wouldn’t have kids that needed to go to the hub,’” Dr. David Lawrence, Dayton Public Schools superintendent, said.
As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, Lawrence believes the current state requirements are not fair to his district, his students, and their parents.
“We just want a level playing field, right? We are a public school system, and we want to transport Dayton Public School students,” Lawrence said.
Tims told News Center 7 that it’s unfortunate to be “in an environment where public school students are not prioritized” on public school buses.
“It is really backwards,” she said.
Concerns grew regarding high school students transferring buses at the hub after an 18-year-old Dunbar High School student, Alfred Hall III, was shot and killed near the hub this past spring.
State Representative Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) helped pass a law making it illegal for students to transfer at the hub. Dayton Public Schools sued and won a restraining order, putting it on hold until a trial.
Plummer told News Center 7 that there is a money problem with Tims’ plan.
The state pays $1,500 for each child who rides a school bus. Public schools can say “it’s impractical” to bus some students, but they must then pay that private or charter school at least $600 and up to $1,200 for each student impacted. As reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, that means it won’t be easy, or cheap, to drop charter and private school busing, allowing public school students to get off RTA and onto a yellow school bus.
“We need the funding to follow charter schools because charter schools are gonna absorb the costs of transporting kids,” Plummer said.
Tims’ proposal has not been assigned to a statehouse committee yet, so it faces a long journey before it might become law.
[SIGN UP: WHIO-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
©2025 Cox Media Group
