Youngstown parents asking how kids will get to school after district cuts high school busing

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (WKBN) – Even though we’re right in the heat of summer break, many Youngstown parents are already focused on the fall, scrambling to find a ride to and from school for their teenagers.

On Tuesday, the Youngstown City School District decided to nix busing for high schoolers . The school board voted unanimously to eliminate busing all high school students that it serves.

“How’s she supposed to get to school?” asked Brent Kottke, the father of a Youngstown East student.

It’s a question many parents are now asking.

“I see attendance dropping and graduations falling,” Brent said.

The decision doesn’t only affect students at Chaney, East and Rayen Early College, but also Mooney, Ursuline and Valley Christian kids.

“I just feel like whoever has made this decision has sacrificed our kids’ potential safety, in a way, to try and save money,” said Kayleigh Kottke, the mother of that Youngstown East student.

The Youngstown City School District is responsible for transporting more than 3,000 students and has struggled to keep up with its 55 bus routes. This cut will slash about half of them.

School officials say they’ve gone the extra mile to keep drivers in the driver seat but it hasn’t been enough.

Missed routes this past school year forced parents to quickly change gears. In May, the Ohio Department of Education fined Youngstown City Schools $2 million for failing to get students to school on time.

“Just this last year, it was 10 to 12 times that it was a no-show for a bus for our daughter,” Brent said.

High school students will now have to turn to WRTA in order to get to class. The transit agency has offered training to help get students up to speed with using its system.

“We’ve offered our mobility travel trainer to go out to the school and train the students so they can understand how the bus works, how to read schedules, how to use the app, how to ride the bus so they’re prepared to ride the bus,” said Dean Harris, WRTA executive director.

But the students won’t have their own designated routes — they’ll be lumped in with the general public — which is also a concern for parents.

“I don’t know if it’s a matter of ‘We can’t find bus drivers, we can’t hire people so we’re going to cut the position entirely,’ but I feel like if they had more communication with parents, a lot of things could’ve been fixed,” Kayleigh said.

The district emphasizes that this decision was made primarily because of a shortage of bus drivers.

There will be exceptions for students with transportation as part of their Individualized Educational Plan (IEP).

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