Dayton Public Schools Files Legal Challenge to Ohio’s New Bus Transfer Law
On August 11, 2025, Dayton Public Schools (DPS) filed suit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court against the State of Ohio, the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, and its director, Stephen Dackin.
The lawsuit targets a newly passed law, which takes effect on September 30, 2025, that prohibits any high school student in grades 9–12 from making more than one bus transfer on their trip to school if they are being transported by a school district. The law also bans transfers at a centralized transit hub in counties that meet certain criteria. The final version applies only to Montgomery County, effectively singling out DPS.
DPS argues the law is:
- Unconstitutional under Ohio’s Uniformity Clause (Article II, Section 26), which mandates state laws apply equally across all counties.
- A violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution, since it singles out one county without a rational basis.
- A violation of students’ right to travel via public routes, by blocking access to the Greater Dayton RTA’s Wright Stop Plaza, DPS has no control over RTA routes, so forcing removal of transfer points makes safe transportation impossible.
DPS has long purchased RTA passes to ensure public high school students can reach school safely. But now, because the law is narrowly written to target them, the district cannot do that anymore. In effect, DPS says the law is arbitrary, harmful, and unconstitutional—and they are seeking both declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent it from going into effect.
And Now, the World Is Watching
Just as hearing DPS’s legal argument was not shock enough, The Guardian made our crisis international news this week, painting Ohio as a case study in education dysfunction:
“About 2,000 public high school students in Dayton, Ohio, will begin the school year without access to school buses while private and charter school students still get theirs—thanks to bizarre, unconstitutional Ohio law.”
Ohio requires buses for private school kids. Public school students have to find their own ride
The article continues:
- Ohio law requires DPS to transport private and charter school students, or face heavy fines, while public school students are left scrambling for Ubers or buses they must pay for themselves.
- It notes the legislative push to fund private school vouchers while cutting public school transit.
- And it highlights tragic safety concerns: following the fatal shooting of Alfred Hale III at the downtown hub, state lawmakers passed a law to eliminate DPS’s ability to provide public transit passes.
Why DPS Filed
- The Law is Targeted and Unfair — It applies only to one county.
- It Undermines Core Rights — Uniformity, equal protection, and freedom of movement are at stake.
- It Puts Kids at Risk — DPS can’t legally get many students to school safely anymore.
- It Makes Us a Global Punchline — When The Guardian calls your situation “bizarre and unconstitutional,” even people in London are shaking their heads at Columbus.
You get to see the full filing here first on Esrati.com.
And the best part, Dayton Public Schools will now have to pay their lawyers at Frost Todd Brown millions of dollars that won’t be spent on actually educating our kids- or getting them to school.
In the meantime, we’re still signing kids up for E-bikes to get to school at: https://modernpolicy.org/dayton-bike-gang/
So spread the word.
Too many unruly teens ! Is the real issue…. Playtime is over Daddy Trump is coming to a town near you !
…get to school safely? At Belmont, students can’t even get to the bus stop safely…
Good for DPS filing suit. Phil Plummer is a dirty dog who deserves some time in his own jail.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DL20qA8xTE-/
Truth hurts, Tim. “Daddy Trump” is a convicted felon, as are you. Not everyone can have paint ball playtime on private family land like you – and the Trump boys. The rest of us hard-working Americans have to work for a living.
For sorry ass Republicans like Tim, Old Bandito, Phil Plummer, Tom Young, Donald Trump, and all the Trump 2.0 minions, there is apparently no shame for their blatant assault on democracy, women, minorities, immigrants, our allies, and the rampant corruption, criminality, and lies in which the party members regularly engage.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DM3fBU9ST-H/
What, you thought only Margaret Atwood and HULU could bring you this? I’ll be watching for Lebensborn 2.0 to start any day now.
https://www.instagram.com/reel/DNGSv7pxfFr/
…if, Melissa, you are concerned about the “blatant assault” of “women, minorities (and) immigrants” I’ll provide you for the time and place for same that begs your intervention.
Be at the intersection of Wayne and Watervliet five minutes after dismissal of Belmont High School. There you can witness violence on your aforementioned that proximity to a police station does not deter. Not even the decorum of a public library is free from the beat downs…
Complete unconstitutionality. $1,300,000,000 of state funds (from OUR TAXES) is budgeted for private schools this year, despite a recent declaration of unconstitutionality by the Ohio Supreme Court.
Old Bandito, I’m sure you interceded in that blatant violence you witnessed at Belmont High School’s dismissal, called 911, assisted the victim as you were able, discussed what you saw with the responding officers, filed a police report, and testified at the criminal proceeding so the juvenile scofflaws were punished and rehabilitated?
I feel certain you did not trespass on DPS property despite being tempted to walk around the nice campus and school buildings. Maybe you were just sitting patiently in your car at the traffic light there when the 1,000 or so kids were dismissed, momentarily trapped while the locust hoard of students and busses headed out.
You probably followed up with good intent to discuss your community concerns about the blatant violence with school personnel. I suspect you are highly motivated to keep neighborhoods safe while helping mold errant students into good citizens.
If so, I commend you, sir. We share those values. I feel confident you would agree it is tough being a parent of teens and young adults at times, but the challenges are worth it. We were young once, too (but let’s not dwell on that lol).
School’s back in session this week and next. Perhaps you are near Belmont HS. Reach out to the school if you wish to volunteer your talents. You’re a good writer with a sharp sense of humor who likes baseball (all based upon your past comments). Those are skills that would come in handy with whip smart (and sometimes smart ass) teens. A positive male role model could make a difference.
https://dps.k12.oh.us/belmont-high-school/
As I understand it, David volunteers and has worked with area youth in his neck of the woods. I see online the Dayton Dragons have family events. Perhaps, you could sponsor a couple of kids to see a game? No pressure – just a thought.
https://www.milb.com/dayton
…no, Melissa, there was no intercession on behalf of the Old Bandito. Self-preservation trumps intercession in every instance. And any attempt would have been redundant, since a number of librarians in various states of panic were already dialing 9-1-1, The price a Daytonian pays to read the large print edition of “Watchmen” in the graphic novel section.
And thanks for the suggestion for a hobby. But the latest edition of Belmont students I encounter fail to impress. I don’t flatter myself by thinking my volunteer intervention would counter the dysfunction their single mothers have instilled.
And no, I don’t agree that raising teenagers is tough. What was tough, my kids will testify, was being a Belmont student with me as their parent. A regimen that included study, perfect attendance and staying out of Juvie Hall.
My relationship with the Dragons goes back to their founding 25 years ago. I am still in contact with such players as Samone Peters, who played here in 2001, and while at the park I wear my number 29 green, game worn jersey of Ramon Geronimo, who played in 2008. But for family nights I take my own clan, ranging from my 94-year-old sister to my 11-year-old grandson. A family night tradition I recommend for all…
This is a job for Gary (one-term mayor of Dayton) Leitzell!
Seems as though DPS is going to provide bus passes. But surely, if given a choice, it would embrace Mr. RATTY’S common nonsense scheme. Mr. Ratty’s power of dissuasion prevails again!
…”and in other news, absolutely nothing was said about Dayton, Ohio in the world today. But an article in the Guardian claims citizens of Dayton, Ohio consider David Esrati a laughing stock”…
…More fake news from so called journalist & hater of Belmont single moms Old Bandito…
Let me set the record straight – The Guardian story on busing in Dayton, Ohio:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/11/ohio-private-charter-school-buses
…“There seems to be an aggressive approach to the most vulnerable families and people in America,” says DPS’s superintendent, David Lawrence.
“Not only is it unfair, it’s onerous that public schools have to provide transportation to non-public school students.”
What’s happening in Ohio is a result of a wider effort by conservative politicians to push for more children to attend charter and private schools, many of which are run by religious organizations.
Republican politicians hold a supermajority across Ohio’s legislature and have built up a $1bn fund in the form of vouchers for families who want to send their students to private and charter schools.
(ONE BILLION DOLLARS, FOLKS – emphasis added)
…
“It’s simple – if we did not have to bus non-public school students on our transportation, we could transport every single one of our K-12 students on yellow buses,” says Jocelyn Rhynard, a member of the Dayton public school board. DPS transports between 4,000 and 5,000 charter and private school students every school day.
“It’s a direct result of the legislation from the extremist Republicans at the Ohio statehouse mandating that we must transport non-public students as well as public students in our district.”…
“…Republicans who control Ohio’s state legislature also have dramatically changed education funding – and the politics around it – by sending more tax dollars to private schools, in the form of vouchers given to students and their families…”
https://signalcleveland.org/school-funding-101-understanding-how-we-pay-for-ohios-public-education/
THESE REPUBLICANS DON’T CARE ABOUT YOU OR YOUR KIDS – JUST THEIR OWN.
…sorry Melissa, but parents, Republican or otherwise, have neither legal, moral nor ethical obligation to children other than their own. And if one is parenting correctly, there is neither time nor sufficient concern about the progeny of others.
A Belmont graduate who cannot read their own diploma has been failed on two fronts. One being the school that knew of the student’s deficiency but used social promotion to advance. The other being the parent who failed to address the deficiency, thru either disinterest or lack of reading skills themselves.
Unlike you Melissa, I do not romanticize single mothers. There are collection points for young men raised by single mothers. It’s called the penitentiary. There is no doubt Uncle Sam has a terrible record as a baby-daddy.
The Old Bandito has watched generations of Belmont students come and go. Once a trusted neighborhood resource, the school’s reputation is one of scant scholarship and great havoc. If Belmont was a anything but a school, it would have long ago been declared a public nuisance and shut down.
We do share one belief, Melissa, and that is the benefit of taking kids to Dragons games. And since this week is the final homestand of the season, my suggestion is for you to take your own advice. Take a couple of kids to the ballpark. I’ll already be there…
Old Bandito, we didn’t know you were the perfect Belmont parent! You want us to think your Republican values made for a perfect family component and Belmont school experience?
Your mind seems made up that all penitentiary males are the fathers of Belmont single mom kids. You’re all wet. You have no facts in support. As you know, being a divorced apartment dweller in the ‘burbs isn’t a crime. Lots of parents live it, in and out of the City of Dayton.
You’re being insensitive and too hard on other members of the Dayton community, but apparently you don’t care about other people’s children, just yours. That is so like today’s Trump Republicans – selfish and uncaring to the core.
Speaking of crimes, Trump’s thug border patrol might raid the dugout and arrest some of those precious players on your coveted baseball team. Are some from Trump’s so-called “sh*thole countries”?
Your babe Noem and her pittie-off-the-leash Homan may get them in their sights. Local baseball entertainment might be diminished soon if they are plucked predawn out of their beds in a rendition to Uganda, Somalia, or a desert tent city in Texas. Luckily, the shoddy Florida swamp prison, another federal Trump boondoggle, is closed.
#ETTD Everything Trump Touches Dies
I forgot the Dayton Dragons franchise was recently sold this year. Enjoy the baseball while you can and try not to be like this jerk fan while at the ballfield:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQ9y6yJvcqQ
I can’t quite forgive Pete Rose for his multitude of ethical breaches, personal sins, and criminal acts, despite his lifetime of valor on the baseball diamond. The Big Red Machine cannot be duplicated and is a warm memory. PBS, still working hard for the public despite Trump stealing their funding, recently reported baseball fans remain angry with Rose for gambling and betting against his own self-managed team. Like Trump and the Republicans, the criminality and lack of ethics and integrity leaves America with bases loaded in the bottom of the 9th, three strikes to the last batter, and the game ultimately lost. We need a new team.
As for me, I’ll have my peanuts and Cracker Jacks in a private, safe, secluded space, free from guns, raids, MAGA nutjobs and lunatics, until America sorts out what it wants for itself.
An indicted 23 y/o allegedly killed an 18 y/o with a stolen gun. Another senseless gun death.
https://www.daytondailynews.com/local/man-indicted-in-deadly-shooting-of-dunbar-student-near-rta-hub/JGD6CTZJLBAQFF5VLPHAPKTQFA/