The group purchasing the bus passes included Dayton City Commissioners Shenise Turner-Sloss and Darryl Fairchild, 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, and others.
The group said they wanted to distribute the passes because DPS students were unable to use the bus hub to transfer through downtown due to a new state law prohibiting DPS students from using DPS-purchased bus passes to transfer buses at the RTA hub.
Since many DPS students use that bus hub to transfer, it makes it impractical for the district to distribute bus passes. The board voted not to purchase more bus passes earlier this summer.
The district is currently suing the state to stop enforcement of the law blocking students from transferring downtown. A judge in Franklin County issued a temporary restraining order in the case, which temporarily blocks that part of the new state law from being enforced while the case proceeds.
Because of that restraining order, DPS is currently able to distribute bus passes that they had left over from last school year. District leadership said the leftover bus passes will last through the end of September.
It’s not clear if the lawsuit will be completed before the district runs out of bus passes.
The coalition must raise $384,000 to be able to provide 800 students with a bus pass throughout the remainder of this school year, according to a press release from the group. Community members interested in supporting this effort can contribute through the Dayton Foundation at bit.ly/DPSTransportationCoalition.
For more information, email NeighborhoodsOverPolitics@gmail.com.
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