DAYTON — Dayton Public Schools (DPS) is speaking for the first time about students possibly not using city buses to get to school.
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News Center 7 previously reported on the city of Dayton’s plan it said will help keep students safe. This came after a Dunbar High School senior was shot and killed just feet from the RTA hub while transferring buses on April 4.
DPS began buying RTA passes for high school students in the fall of 2022. They felt it was their best, most cost-effective approach.
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Thousands of high schoolers transfer buses at the RTA hub in downtown Dayton every day on the way to and from school. The superintendent said state regulations make it necessary.
“Here’s a real clear answer, if we didn’t have to transport charter school students, we could easily transport our high school students,” Dr. David Lawrence, DPS superintendent, said.
Lawrence told News Center 7’s Mike Campbell that if people don’t want to see high school students downtown, they should join them in lobbying state lawmakers to drop that requirement on public schools.
He also pointed to other problems with using traditional yellow buses.
“It takes anywhere from 18 to 24 months to get a bus,” Lawrence said. “They’re very expensive, $100,000-plus.”
That doesn’t include the infrastructure of adding drivers, paraprofessionals, fuel, and maintenance costs.
City leaders have a much different perspective. As reported on News Center 7 at 5:00, they believe the high school student transfer system downtown is dangerous.
“Things are going to happen without any supervision, without any accountability, and oftentimes, things are carrying over from school,” Shelley Dickstein, Dayton City Manager, said.
Dickstein said the student transfers create problems for riders, students, and downtown workers and businesses. Companies urging workers to head back to the office don’t want them in high-stress situations.
News Center 7 asked Lawrence if there’s a way for the city leaders, RTA leaders, and school leaders to find alternative solutions. He said it has to make sense for students and the school’s bottom line.
“Well thought out, systematic, planned, and strategic,” he said.
The district is sponsoring meetings about transportation for the district’s 13,000 students, and Lawrence said he expects high school busing to come up in those meetings.
For now, high school students will continue to transfer at the RTA hub for the last five weeks of this school year.
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