A Franklin County judge has issued a temporary restraining order against a new Ohio law that had prevented Dayton Public Schools from buying and giving out RTA bus passes.
According to the state’s recently passed operating budget, DPS is barred from buying transit passes for high school students. It also prohibits students from transferring at the downtown RTA Hub.
In response, the school district sued the state, arguing this provision is arbitrary, discriminatory and would harm students by creating significant barriers to attendance. This year, DPS anticipates 3,370 high school students. This summer, district staff showed freshmen how to safely use the mass transit system during orientation.
The judge’s order delays the enforcement of this provision. Now, DPS is giving out about 3,500 RTA passes left over from last school year.
Students using a school-issued RTA bus pass must wear a school ID badge and sign a Code of Conduct, all required by the DPS Board of Education. According to the board, the district spends about $3 million a year to purchase RTA passes.
DPS will also send School Resource Officers (SROs) to the RTA Hub in the morning and afternoons when there is heavy student traffic — a cost of $30,000 per month in overtime.
State law requires Ohio school districts to transport students in grades K-8, who live more than two miles away from their school building, including those who attend charter and private schools. As a result, DPS and other districts say they don’t have enough drivers and buses to transport high school students.
In earlier statements, RTA officials have said they want all of their riders, including students, to safely get to their destinations.
Meanwhile, Dayton City Commissioners Shenise Turner-Sloss and Darryl Fairchild say they’re prepared to step in if DPS is legally blocked from giving students RTA bus passes. They have arranged partnerships between numerous Dayton non-profits and community leaders to provide passes, including: Neighborhoods Over Politics, Dayton Tenants Union, Dayton United for Human Rights, Racial Justice Now!, Dayton Anti-Racist Network, Ohio Families Unite Against Police Brutality, Chosen Outreach Ministries, Freedom Ryderz, Jacob Davis of Nalls Davis Attorneys At Law and the West Dayton Caravan of Churches.
Next week, DPS returns to court to argue for the continuation of the temporary restraining order.
