One of the parents sitting in their cars Tuesday was Vicki Fellows, a mother with three high school students at DPS. She told a Dayton Daily News reporter the busing changes have “100%” negatively affected her.
Fellows said that her family never used the RTA busing system, but she is helping others.
“We’re actually picking up a couple of my kids’ friends, because they used to utilize the RTA bus passes, and now they’re kind of stuck,” Fellows said. “They don’t have a parent that has a vehicle.”
Fellows added that she’s having to take her lunches later than she normally would to pick them up and drop them off at their homes, which extends her work day as well.
Students in grades 10-12 returned to school Wednesday, many walking, carpooling or buying their their own bus passes to get to class.
Dayton Public Schools this week filed a lawsuit challenging the new state law prohibiting DPS students from changing buses in the downtown bus hub using school-purchased RTA bus passes.
State lawmakers say the measure was needed to ensure student safety after an 18-year-old Dunbar High School student was killed on his way to school near the downtown RTA hub.
In response to the law, DPS isn’t providing bus transportation to high school students this year.
DPS officials say that they didn’t have enough time to purchase more yellow buses as planned, as the typical wait time for them is around 12 months. This wasn’t enough time to have the buses ready for the beginning of the school year.
“We are required by the McKinney-Vento law to work with families experiencing displacement who request transportation services, and therefore, once the school year is underway, transportation arrangements will be implemented to support our most vulnerable students (unhoused, group home, and foster care),” said DPS Superintendent David Lawrence.
Lawrence added that DPS is committed to working towards implementing a “comprehensive transportation plan for all students K-12.”
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