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Ohio Charter School Transportation crisis Sparks Calls for Legislative Reform

COLUMBUS, OH – A growing transportation crisis impacting Ohio’s charter school students is prompting calls for state-level intervention, with school leaders and a state senator citing a system prioritizing conventional public school students and enabling districts too avoid full transportation responsibilities. The issue, a recurring problem, leaves many students – especially those in underserved communities – without reliable access to school.

Andy Boy, CEO of United Schools, described the current system as “not working,” emphasizing the need for “meaningful changes to the way transportation works for our students.” KIPP Columbus currently mitigates the issue by offering free busing within specific parameters, utilizing a third-party service.The core of the problem lies with Ohio’s “payment in lieu” system, intended for situations were transporting charter school students is genuinely impractical. However,several charter school leaders argue districts are exploiting this provision to avoid their legal obligation.”Legislative change is really the only way forward at this point,” stated Sarah Silver of the Ohio Association of Community Schools. She highlighted previous advocacy efforts and financial penalties faced by schools, suggesting the law itself may need revision if current practices persist.

State Senator Andrew Brenner (R-Delaware) confirmed the Ohio General Assembly will likely address the issue in the upcoming session. He accused some districts of “taking advantage” of the payment in lieu system, calling it “the easy way out” and stating it’s not the original intent of the law. Brenner believes the system should be reserved for genuinely challenging transportation scenarios, not used as a routine cost-cutting measure.

Potential solutions being discussed include clarifying the definition of “impractical” to limit it’s submission,increasing the payment in lieu amount to discourage its use,or even providing direct reimbursement to charter schools for student transportation.

“You could make an argument that the payment in lieu should go up, more or less as a deterrent, for some of the games we’ve been seeing,” suggested David Churchill, an education consultant.

Another proposal, put forth by Ron Palmer, involves enabling charter schools to collaborate and receive state compensation for providing their own transportation.

Boy underscored the inherent conflict of interest when public school districts are responsible for charter school busing. “What we no is that the districts are to transport our kids and they’re going to transport theirs first and get to ours next, and that’s created the types of problems we’ve seen,” he explained.

The debate highlights a fundamental tension between the obligations of traditional public school districts and the needs of the growing charter school sector in Ohio, with stakeholders seeking a sustainable and equitable solution to ensure all students have access to education.

This article is based on facts reported by Cole Behrens of The Dispatch on August 10, 2025.