District changes busing plan so more can get access

Dayton Public Schools is changing the way students qualify for busing next year to a north-south transportation zone in the hope that more students can access busing, the district announced Thursday.

Currently, Dayton Public students attend schools based in four quadrants.

In general, students must attend a school within their quadrant to get yellow bus transportation. However, there are some exceptions, like busing to magnet schools. Special education students can get busing with a plan requiring it.

Kindergarten through eighth grade students who live more than 1.5 miles away from school or have a route to school affected by a major highway or railroad tracks are eligible to take the yellow buses. High school students are currently taking the RTA to school.

Northwest Dayton schools include Charity Adams Girls Academy, Valerie Elementary,

Belle Haven Elementary, Fairview Elementary, Rosa Parks Early Learning Center and E.J. Brown Middle School. Northeast Dayton includes Kiser Elementary, River’s Edge Montessori, Ruskin Elementary, Stivers School for the Arts middle school, and Wright Brothers Middle School. Southeast Dayton includes Kemp Elementary, Cleveland Elementary, Eastmont Elementary and Horace Mann Elementary, plus Belmont Middle School. Finally, the southwest quadrant is Edison

Elementary, Roosevelt Elementary, Westwood Elementary, and Louise Troy Elementary.

That means that if a student attends Fairview Elementary and lives in Belmont, for example, the student isn’t being bused to school on a yellow bus. Instead, their families must drive them, or the student takes public transportation.

Many students in grades kindergarten through six are attending their neighborhood school. But middle schoolers are more likely to be attending a different school outside of their quadrant. And if a family moves across town but wants to keep their student in the same school, the student no longer gets yellow bus transportation.

“The district recognizes that this system has not worked in the best interest of families, and has at times, caused strain on the DPS transportation department,” the district said in a statement.

Instead, the district will create north and south transportation zones. The school district didn’t immediately release details but said more information will be available later this spring.

“The district hopes this change will mitigate any transportation issues families have experienced and will make Dayton Public Schools more attractive to those who have left due to quadrant concerns,” DPS said.