Columbus schools cut $50 million — but not high school busing
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Rebecca Zisser / Axios
Columbus City Schools will slash $50 million to balance next year's budget, but board members once again pumped the brakes on eliminating high school busing.
Why it matters: Busing is expensive, but changing it has proved disruptive and divisive.
- Route reductions would affect thousands of students in a district where over half were chronically absent last year.
The latest: Amid cuts approved this week, board members also agreed to form a "working group" to explore potential transportation changes for the 2027-28 school year.
The big picture: Ohio law doesn't actually require high school busing, and 76 Ohio districts don't provide it.
- That list includes Bexley, Grandview, Upper Arlington and Whitehall locally, per state data.
- Cleveland and Cincinnati have bused high schoolers via cheaper public transportation instead of yellow buses for years.
Zoom in: Columbus students have had access to free COTA passes since 2021.
- About 7,300 different students took over 320,000 trips in 2024, COTA spokesperson Jeff Pullin tells Axios.
Friction point: Busing has become an education flashpoint in recent years amid driver shortages and Ohio's rapid expansion of charter schools and private vouchers.
- Ohio law requires public districts to offer equivalent transportation to all students within their boundaries, even those attending school elsewhere.
- But if Columbus stops busing its own high schoolers, it could stop busing charter and private high schoolers, too.
Follow the money: Columbus budgeted $15 million this year to cover state fines stemming from nonpublic school complaints about inadequate services, AP reports.
- Its total transportation budget this year, separately, is $75 million.
- Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is also suing the district over the situation.
Zoom in: Potentially replacing high school buses with COTA — which would have saved nearly $5 million — was the most emotional decision during Tuesday's three-hour meeting.
- Board member Sarah Ingles switched her "yes" vote to a "no," creating a 3-3 deadlock, and Vice President Jennifer Adair was in tears while casting a "no" vote as the tiebreaker.
Cuts the board did approve:
- An estimated 235 staff members ($25.9 million).
- About 60 administrators ($6.6 million).
- Non-personnel, including supplies ($8.8 million).
- Busing for some K-8 students choosing to attend schools outside their neighborhood boundaries ($8.7 million).
Plus: Four buildings will close for demolition — Como and Fairwood elementaries (2026), Duxberry Park elementary (2027) and the former Everett Middle School housing Columbus Gifted Academy (2027).
- That's in addition to six closures approved last year.
What's next: Superintendent Angela Chapman will present a plan by Jan. 31 outlining specific positions the district could cut, many through attrition.