Big changes in store to get students to school in Dayton after previous system ‘caused strain’

DAYTON — The Dayton Public School District will have a new transportation system when school returns in the fall for the 2024-25 school year.

Next school year, the district will be leaving behind its four-quadrant transportation system in favor of new north and south transportation zones.

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Under the current system, K-8 students must attend a school within their quadrant to receive yellow bus transportation through the district. With the new approach, students will have more school options.

“What it does is, it gives our families more choice. It gives them more choices in schools and it gives us more flexibility,” Superintendent Dr. David Lawrence said.

The hope is that the new zones will “mitigate any transportation issues families have experienced.”

As we reported on News Center 7 at 6:00, Lawrence said the routers and dispatchers at the transportation center worked to develop this plan and they will fine-tune it between now and next fall.

“I think it will actually bring more parents and kids back to Dayton Public Schools because there are kids and parents that left because of the quadrant system,” Lawrence said.

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While he admitted it’s not easy to bus 8,000-10,000 of the district’s 12,600 students every day, Lawrence said this change should smooth things out. He also wants to work toward expanding the district’s busing.

“I want the business community to know, I want the wider community to know that our ultimate goal is to transport all our students, K-12,” Lawrence said.

New information about the two-zone busing system will be revealed to parents throughout the spring and summer.

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