DAYTON — Dayton Public Schools have issued a response to a lawsuit filed by the district that’s seeking to challenge the new state law banning Dayton Public from buying RTA bus passes for high school students.
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The district is suing the state and Ohio Department of Education and Workforce over the state law put into effect in July when the state budget was signed by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine. The law bans the district’s practice of buying the bus passes to transport high school students. Without enough buses or drivers to transport all high school students on yellow school buses, the district started the year with all high school students finding their own transportation to school.
>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Dayton Public Schools sues state for new busing law, calling it ‘unreasonable,’ ‘discriminatory’
On Wednesday, the first day of school for most high school students in the district, Superintendent Dr. David Lawrence issued a statement to News Center 7 explaining the district’s stance on the lawsuit, filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
“The Dayton Public School District cannot comment on the pending litigation. However, it has become clear that our community does not agree with the Ohio Legislature’s decision to halt our use of RTA busing,” Lawrence said in the emailed statement to News Center 7.
“We have heard from many individuals through their interactions with Board members and staff members, and there is a consensus that, as a school district, we must partner with the community to assist and defend children. We continue to explore all of our options in an attempt to support our students and their families.”
News Center 7 reached out to the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce for a statement Tuesday night and have yet to receive a response.
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In the lawsuit filed on Aug. 11, the district calls the law “arbitrary, unreasonable, and discriminatory” and asks a judge to temporarily block the state from enforcing it. Additionally the district argues 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.
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.
A hearing is scheduled for Thursday morning in a Franklin County courtroom where a judge will hear arguments about issuing the temporary block on the law.