ACLJ Files Major Lawsuit at Ohio Supreme Court, Demanding Columbus School Board Stop Violating School Choice Law and Provide Students With Transportation to Christian Schools

Last night in Ohio, the ACLJ filed a major new lawsuit on behalf of parents and their right to choose their children’s education. The Columbus City Board of Education is attacking that right by refusing to transport children to private schools, including many Christian schools, despite an Ohio law that expressly requires them to provide that transportation. Late yesterday we filed a writ of mandamus at the Ohio Supreme Court on behalf of our client to force the city to follow the law and uphold parental rights and school choice.

Ohio law requires school districts to provide transportation to all students in their jurisdiction, regardless of what school they attend. The Columbus School District has made the unconscionable decision to deny transportation services to students attending private schools, many of which are faith-based institutions. This blatant violation of these students’ legal rights cannot stand.

Ohio’s school choice laws serve as powerful safeguards, ensuring that students attending religious and other private schools are not treated as second-class citizens.

Ohio Revised Code 3327.01 mandates that public school districts must provide transportation for students attending private schools, including religious institutions, on equal terms with public school students. Private school students must receive the same level of service as their public school counterparts. Under the law, the cost is borne by the public school district, preventing economic discrimination against families exercising their right to religious education.

Ohio Revised Code 3327.02 reinforces parental rights and religious liberty by mandating that if a district deems transportation impractical, they must pay families a fair amount in lieu of providing transportation. Parents have the right to appeal decisions about impracticality to the state board of education and to challenge the decision, arguing that the decision to deny them protections was made for the wrong reasons. Most importantly, while these appeals are pending, the school board is supposed to provide transportation. These laws are a powerful rebuke to those who would seek to restrict educational choice. They recognize that parents, not government bureaucrats, know what’s best for their children’s education and moral upbringing.

The Columbus School Board has violated that obligation on a large scale, canceling transportation for over 1,000 students. The law requires that a decision be made at least a month before school starts and proper notice given; but for many students and their families, including our client, they did not find out about the decision to stop providing bussing until after the school year began. Imagine the first day of school and your kids are waiting for the bus, and it never comes. Most importantly, the school board has refused to provide any transportation to the families who are appealing its decision despite its mandatory obligation to do so.

Many families have been severely affected by this, facing lost hours at work, increased costs, and other severe burdens. The Columbus School District is effectively penalizing families for their religious beliefs and educational preferences. This is a clear infringement on religious liberty and parental rights.

For example, our client, Marrisa Siebold, is a mother with a student at a Christian middle school. Her child’s first day of school was August 14, 2024, but she did not find out that the School District had decided not to transport her child until August 22. When she eventually did find out, the School District offered her money instead of transportation but did not even bother to identify how much money they were offering her. She requested mediation, the first step to challenge such a decision, and still hasn’t heard back about that mediation. At every step, the Columbus School District has failed to communicate with her and failed to provide her with the crucial information she needs for her child.

Because the School District is refusing to provide any transportation, she has had to take time off work to transport her children and has lost hours at her job. She has also had to work additional hours late at night and early in the morning because of the time she lost. She has had to spend approximately two hours of additional time every week, taking her children to school because the School District refuses to do so.

The law imposes a penalty on School Districts that fail to provide the transportation they are required to provide. In Columbus, school official Rodney Stufflebean said in a school board meeting that they would rather pay the penalty than provide the required transportation. This penalty is important, but it is not enough to actually fix the injury done here. Every day students and their families are being harmed by the school board’s failure to provide transportation.

We filed a special kind of lawsuit in the Ohio Supreme Court called a mandamus petition. The purpose of a mandamus petition is to compel a government official to do a ministerial obligatory duty that the official has under the law. Specifically, we are seeking an order requiring the school board to fulfill its obligation to provide transportation while the transportation decision is being reviewed. That interim transportation is the bare minimum here, and there is no excuse for their failure to provide it. The law does not give the school board any excuse to not provide interim transportation – it simply is obligated to provide the transportation.

Families who have made significant sacrifices to send their children to schools that align with their values and beliefs are now being forced to shoulder an additional financial burden. For many, this could mean the difference between being able to afford a faith-based education and being forced into the public school system against their wishes.

This is not just about transportation – it’s about the fundamental right of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children without undue government interference. The Ohio legislature has enacted critical school choice legislation. Yet the Columbus School District has chosen to violate the law as a “cheaper” option than doing what the law mandates. This is a dangerous precedent that, if left unchallenged, could lead to further erosion of our religious freedoms and parental rights.

The ACLJ has long fought against such egregious violations of constitutional rights. We call on all concerned citizens to join us in this fight. We cannot allow government entities to trample on our rights without consequence.