Two Ohio state representatives are proposing a law change that bans transferring students at a downtown hub in an urban area.
The announcement was made at a Dayton press conference — an announcement which the Dayton Public Schools superintendent said he and the school board weren't contacted about.
State Reps. Tom Young (R-Washington Twp.)and Phil Plummer (R-Dayton) joined Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims, Jr., Thursday morning for a press conference at the downtown Greater Dayton RTA Hub.
The men said they are getting complaints from surrounding businesses, including drug sales, violence and students being harassed. Plummer said he added an amendment to the state budget to simplify getting students to and from school on public transportation.
"I have a new amendment where you can no longer transfer students at a downtown bus hub in an urban area," Plummer said
"We’re making our kids get up too early, and we already have an attendance problem. Let’s streamline that process so we can take them to school," he said.
His comments come almost a week after an 18-year-old Dunbar student was shot and killed near the hub.
“What I would like to see from some of the representatives is this same level of concern when a child is killed outside of downtown Dayton where businesses are.”DPS Superintendent David Lawrence
Alfred Hale was a senior. According to police, last Friday morning, he was waiting near the downtown RTA Hub for a bus to school. Someone shot him outside of the In-And-Out store on South Jefferson Street. Hale later died at the hospital.
Police have made no arrests.
"Instead of being bussed downtown, he should have been able to take a bus directly from his neighborhood to his school," Mims said. "We have lost far too many young lives before they had the chance to complete their education and become productive citizens in our community."
Plummer's amendment is part of the state’s operating budget that has passed the Ohio House. The Senate still has to approve the budget.
If the amendment becomes law, on July 1, statewide students will not be able to transfer onto another bus at a mass transit hub.
No one represented Dayton Public Schools at the press conference. When WYSO contacted Superintendent David Lawrence, who’s out of town on business, he was surprised.
“Neither I nor any of my school board members were aware of it (press conference),” said Lawrence.
Lawrence has visited the Hale family and said DPS continues supporting them and Dunbar’s students and staff. He also wants city leaders and state politicians to be more responsive to the overall violence happening in the Gem City.
“What I would like to see from some of the representatives is this same level of concern when a child is killed outside of downtown Dayton where businesses are,” Lawrence said.
Meanwhile, Young said he wants to either stop or "claw back" a $4 million grant coming to RTA in the last transportation budget. The RTA leadership did not know what grant Young could be referring to.
Via email, WYSO shared this comment with Greater Dayton RTA CEO Bob Ruzinsky. In his response, Ruzinsky said, “At this time we are not aware of a $4 million grant coming to RTA.” He also stressed the shooting didn’t occur at RTA’s Hub, because Hale had left the property. A point to which Lawrence agrees.
Mims acknowledged ongoing collaboration between the city, RTA and DPS to minimize student-involved incidents at the downtown Hub and on the buses. However, now he said a different approach is needed.
"Across Ohio, students are bussed on yellow school buses from their neighborhoods directly to their schools," Mims said. "We believe Dayton Public School students deserve that same level of service as their suburban peers."
Next week, DPS intends to comment on these latest developments.
