This week, that includes a look at what’s contributing to school busing issues frustrating area parents, and a flurry of legislative activity by state lawmakers before heading of on Thanksgiving break.
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Hold the bus
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
We have heard from parents through the school year concerns that busing in area school districts is rife with problems. Our education reporter Eileen McClory looked into the issue to see what’s behind it. Here is her full report.
• Driver shortage: Ohio has seen a 20% drop in available bus drivers since before the pandemic. Pay and wonky hours are factors.
• Budget cuts: Districts such as Franklin and Huber Heights have eliminated high school busing due to budget cuts.
• Parent frustration: “There’s a lot of people that are impacted by this, waiting in lines to pick their kids up,” said Cassie Clark, a Franklin Junior High parent.
• Homeless kids: Cities like Kettering say a growing number of homeless children contributes to the problem, forcing schools to drive across the county to pick up kids in shelters or staying with others.
• School choice: Laws requiring transportation to charter and private schools stretch resources thin. Dayton Public Schools has 14 buildings of its own, but has to transport students to 21 charter and private school buildings.
• Driving the bus: Eileen earlier this year tried her hand at driving a school bus. See a video of her experience here.
Lame turducken
Credit: NYT
Credit: NYT
Every two-year session of the Ohio General Assembly, the most productive period is the final weeks when they rush out tons of changes to state law before the session ends in so-called lame duck session. Last week was kinda like that, as they rushed to get stuff done before the Thanksgiving holiday — or what we called lame turducken session. Here are a few things they did.
• Property tax reform: State lawmakers passed a package of property tax reform measures that total roughly $3.8 billion in tax credits and school and local government revenue reductions.
• Ballot returns: The Ohio legislature voted to eliminate a four-day post-election grace period that allowed several thousand mail-in absentee ballots across the state to be counted in the 2024 presidential election.
• Cannabis law: Lawmakers tasked with hammering out a legislative compromise on a regulatory structure for intoxicating hemp products and tweaks to Ohio’s recreational marijuana laws inked a deal just after midnight on Thursday, though the agreement needs further confirmation before it gets sent to the governor.
• Fewer villages: Republicans in the Ohio House are hoping to take a new tack in their effort to cut down on government spending and, in turn, taxation, by financially incentivizing local governments to consolidate and merge.
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