State sues school district for not transporting select private, charter school students

COLUMBUS — Ohio Attorney Dave Yost has sued a school district for allegedly not transporting charter and private school students.

Yost’s filing in the Ohio Supreme Court seeks to compel Columbus City Schools to immediately provide transportation to and from charter and private schools for each student whose families have requested mediation regarding bus service until the mediation is resolved, according to a media release.

The lawsuit also alleges that the district failed to notify the families of students that it found “impractical” to transport, denying them their right to request mediation.

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The district is required to provide transportation for charter and private school students who live within the district’s boundaries and no more than 30 minutes from the public school to which they would be assigned if they attended, according to the lawsuit.

“Columbus City Schools has not complied with the law since the start of this academic year for hundreds or thousands of students, calling bus transportation for these students “impractical” and providing parents of those affected with just a few days’ notice, far short of the notice required by law,” Yost said.

Yost sent a cease-and-desist letter to the district on Sept. 3., telling the district it would sue if they didn’t fix the bussing issues. The district allegedly did not respond, prompting the lawsuit.

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Columbus City Schools sent a letter to Yost Thursday afternoon before the lawsuit was announced defending their decisions and actions, according to our news partners at WBNS.

“Your threat to file a lawsuit against CCS is an improper infringement upon CCS’s right to make ineligibility and impractical to transport determinations,” CCS’s letter said. “Your threat to file a lawsuit against CCS is also an infringement upon the equal rights of public school districts and community or nonpublic school parents/guardians to due process.”

Superintendent Dr. Angela Chapman sent a message to families Thursday evening addressing the matter, saying that she is “leaning into this issue” with her team.

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