Effective September 30, 2021, while districts still maintain the ability to determine that it is impractical to transport an eligible nonpublic school student, Ohio House Bill 110 requires that the determination be made not later than 30 calendar days prior to the first day of student instruction in the district. The deadline for district determination for students who enroll after the first day of instruction in the district is 14 calendar days after the student enrolls. The determination may be made by the Superintendent but must be later approved by the board at its next meeting.
In addition to reporting its determination of impracticality to ODE, the district must issue a letter to the student’s parent, guardian, or other person in charge of the student, the nonpublic or community school in which the student is enrolled, and to the state board with a detailed description of the reasons for which such determination made.
Boards of education must continue to offer to provide payment in lieu of transportation after declaring transportation impracticality, but payment must be at least fifty percent (50%) of the amount established by the Ohio Department of Education as the average cost of pupil transportation for the previous school year. A parent, guardian, or other person in charge of the student who rejects payment in lieu of transportation and requests mediation may authorize the nonpublic or community school in which the student is enrolled to act on the parent’s, guardian’s, or other person’s behalf during the mediation proceedings.
If ODE determines the district failed to provide required transportation to the student, then the district will pay to the student’s parent, guardian, or other person in charge of the student, an amount equal to fifty percent (50%) of the cost of providing the transportation to the student as determined by the district, but not more than two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).
Additionally, HB 110 requires that ODE monitor each city, local, and exempted village school district's compliance to provide student transportation. If ODE determines a consistent or prolonged period of noncompliance, the department will deduct from the district's payment for student transportation the total daily amount of that payment for each day that the district is not in compliance.
Please note the above changes to section 3327.02 of the Revised Code do not alter the initial process for declaring transportation impractical. Declaring transportation impractical is determined on a case-by-case basis - e.g., student-by-student. In determining whether transportation is impractical, the board must still consider the following factors prior to making a final determination: 1) time and distance required to provide the transportation; 2) the number of pupils to be transported; 3) cost of equipment, maintenance, personnel and administration essential for the transportation; 4) similarity or equivalence of services provided to other students eligible for transportation; 5) whether and to what extent the additional service unavoidably disrupts current transportation schedules; and 6) whether other reimbursable types of transportation are available. After weighing the above-stated six (6) factors, the board may adopt a resolution declaring the impracticality of transportation. The resolution must name all affected students and set forth the reasons for its determination for each instance/student. The district must then provide the parent/guardian with notification of that resolution and ask for the parent/guardian to accept or reject the determination. At the same time, the district is to provide the parent/guardian with information regarding their rights, should they choose to reject the determination.
HB 110 also indicates that no city, local, or exempted village school district may arrange for transportation of pupils via mass transit system for students enrolled in a community or nonpublic charter school in grades K-8, unless the district enters into an agreement with that school authorizing such transportation. For students enrolled in grades 9-12, the district may provide for transportation using vehicles operated by a mass transit system as long as the student is assigned to a route that does not require the student to make more than one transfer.