Ohio
AG sues Columbus City Schools for breaking Ohio law by not busing non-public school students
Republican Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit against the Columbus City Schools after warning earlier in the week it must resume busing private and charter school students or it will be breaking the law.
It’s the combination of more families using taxpayer-paid vouchers to send their kids to other schools along with a bus driver shortage that’s been going on for four years.
Yost said the district has “blatantly failed to comply” with state law requiring public school districts to transport both their students and those in the district limits who are attending private or charter schools. The lawsuit said the district has declared around 1,380 students impractical to transport based on six factors the district approved to determine eligibility.
“Students deemed impractical to transport and their student families have been denied the freedom of choice of educational institution,” Yost wrote in the lawsuit. “Moreover, many families have been forced to endure financial hardships to acquire the transportation for their children that the Columbus School Board has refused to provide.”
District said state law allows its actions
The district said in a statement that it “believes its actions are consistent with the laws promulgated by the General Assembly and is complying with its legal obligations to transport students.” The statement added that Yost’s lawsuit infringes on the districts right to make ineligibility determinations, it attempts to circumvent the authority of legislators who passed the ineligibility law and that it’s “also an infringement upon the equal rights of public school districts and community or nonpublic school parents/guardians to due process.”
The district is transporting 37,000 kids to 113 Columbus City Schools buildings and 9,000 kids to 167 private and charter school buildings.
Columbus City Schools executive director of transportation Rodney Stufflebean said the district condensed and combined routes, brought in contractors, and tried to hire more drivers. But he said the district also had to consider the state law on ineligibility.
“We look at the resources that we have through the legislature and things of that nature and the tools and the rules and the guidelines in the Ohio Revised Code that gives us ways to combat the shortage of drivers,” Stufflebean said. “We had to start using those as part of our tools to efficiently route for the students that we are 100% obligated to provide transportation for.”
The district has a little over half the bus drivers it did four years ago. The district is paying some parents to transport their kids or put them on public transit. But Yost said in the lawsuit that money won’t go out till the end of the school year, and some families “have been forced to resign their jobs or take other actions that jeopardize their jobs in order to provide their children the transportation that the Columbus School Board has refused to provide.”
Impact of vouchers on the case
Yost suggested in the suit that the district is trying to force students to leave those non-public schools. He cited comments from Columbus Board of Education member Brandon Simmons, who suggested struggling families choose to send their kids to Columbus City Schools instead.
“Multiple private and charter schools are faced with huge declines in enrollment and attendance because of students’ inability to find transportation. These declines in enrollment and attendance equate to declines in funding and threaten the continued viability of these institutions,” Yost wrote. “The Columbus School Board’s actions, therefore, threaten the competitive vigor of Ohio’s markets for educational services for K-12 students.”
The school bus driver shortage has been going on for years, and those in public education say the increase in the use of vouchers has only added to the problem.
“A lot of the laws and legislation are from days passed when the environment of school transportation looked far different,” Stufflebean said. “What we need to do as a system is sit back, look at this together as a whole, take input on what we’re seeing and how we’re dealing with this. And let’s create some some legislation and laws that put us in the right direction to be successful as a group, and not penalizes for things that we have no control over.”
A survey of districts done for the Ohio School Boards Association revealed around 7% report being fully staffed with an adequate number of substitute drivers. Nearly a third of districts need subs and extra trips to transport all students. In about 13% of districts, office staff and mechanics are driving regular routes. And about 9% of districts say no solution is working.
The lawsuit was filed in the Ohio Supreme Court.
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (MyValleyTributes) – Mrs. Mary Lucille Young, 74, of Youngstown, departed this life on Friday, April 10, 2026 at her residence where God welcomed her home.
Mary, affectionately known as “Mary Lou” and “Tang”, was born March 8, 1952 in Youngstown, a daughter of Lawrence and Ada Mae Alexander Hamilton Young.
She was a proud 1971 graduate of South High School.
Mary was a member of New Bethel Baptist Church.
She attended Louis Weinberger Hill Beauty School, and was accepted as a model with Barbizon Modeling Agency.
Mary worked and retired from Youngstown Sheet and Tube.
She enjoyed looking her best, dancing, shopping, casinos and decorating her home. Mary was strong, bold and took no mess. She was loved by many people.
She leaves to cherish her memories, her pride and joy, two daughters, Adalatesha Bright and Richlynn Bright; two sons, Ja-Juan Young and Dr. Ty-Juan Bright all of Youngstown; five grandchildren; two sisters, Cynthia (Floyd) Davis, Janet (Steve) Gardner both of Youngstown; and a host of family and friends.
Besides her parents, she was preceded in death by a son, Michael Lamar Young; three brothers, Isaiah, Edward, Lorenzo Young.
Private services were held at the L.E. Black, Phillips & Holden Funeral Home.
To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Mary Lucille Young, please visit our floral store.
The NWSL is once again expanding, this time the league is heading to Ohio where Columbus NWSL 2028 will take the field. Of course, Columbus NWSL 2028 is a placeholder for now and the the new team will unveil its name, crest, and uniform to build an identity around as it approaches its first season.
News of the club was announced yesterday, though this has been in the works for some time, in a press conference. Team owners, the Haslam Sports Group (HSG), Nationwide and Drs. Christine and Pete Edwards, spoke about what they hope the club will bring to Columbus and women’s soccer more broadly.
“Our family is thrilled to help bring an NWSL team to Columbus and further invest in Ohio, with the honor of bringing the 18th team into the league,” said Haslam Sports Group Managing Partner Whitney Haslam Johnson. “We believe in the power of women’s sports and are humbled to be part of the number one women’s soccer league in the world.”
Nationwide insurance has been a corporate partner in both NWSL and MLS for years and now joins an ownership group deepening those ties. “Today’s announcement is about inspiring young athletes across Central Ohio, elevating women’s professional sports and reminding the world that Columbus is a first-class sports city,” said Kirt Walker, Nationwide Chief Executive Officer. “As Nationwide marks 100 years, this is a powerful way to celebrate our milestone with the community that has been our home from the very beginning.”
The Edwards family has deep roots in the Columbus soccer scene with Dr. Pete Edwards serving as team doctor for the Crew in 1996 and the family joining the team’s ownership in 2019 during the Save The Crew effort. “Columbus is very important to our family. For over 30 years, we’ve supported the Columbus Crew and MLS. We’ve seen how a men’s professional soccer team has brought people together and created a positive impact in our community. It’s truly special to now welcome an NWSL club and the incredible women athletes who will also uplift our city on and off the pitch,” said Dr. Christine Edwards. “We’re very excited to partner with Haslam Sports Group and Nationwide for NWSL Columbus 2028, and we can’t wait to share even more memorable moments with fans, especially during the Club’s first game at ScottsMiracle-Gro Field.”
The NWSL has continued its expansion with the announcement and the team will join Atlanta in its inaugural season in two years.
Ohio
Ex-Ohio State president Ted Carter’s girlfriend would sneak through campus garage to get to his office, report reveals
Disgraced ex-Ohio State President Ted Carter repeatedly snuck his alleged failing podcaster lover through a campus garage for secret visits to his office as he funneled university resources into her business ventures, a shocking new report claims.
The report into the circumstances behind Carter’s abrupt exit from his cushy $1.5 million-a-year role last month detailed his secret office rendezvous with Krisanthe Vlachos, host of “The Callout Podcast,” and at least five trips he took with her.
The duo jetted off to Richmond, Virginia; Orlando, Florida; Kansas City, Missouri; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Las Vegas – with the married 66-year-old allegedly cooking up a fake business excuse for one trip, the report released Tuesday by the college found.
One social media post showed the pair at a Colorado Springs conference in January, with the ex-prez smiling next to Vlachos, who is clad in an all-black leather getup.
Carter – married to Lynda Carter for nearly 45 years – admitted giving Vlachos “inappropriate access” to university leadership and public resources to boost her private business when he voluntarily resigned.
The probe found he tapped at least 14 staffers to help his purported paramour, who hosted a veteran-focused podcast, including efforts to score her a university job, campus space, support staff, and financial backing from the school and outside agencies like JobsOhio for different business ventures.
“Carter’s actions betrayed Ohio State’s shared values and violated university policy,” the 47-page report said, adding his “wide-ranging” efforts dragged on for almost two years.
“Carter had a close personal and business relationship with Vlachos and he allowed that relationship to improperly influence his actions and impair his judgement.”
JobsOhio shelled out $60,000 to the prexy’s reported flame to produce four podcast episodes about veteran issues – though only one was completed, the agency said last month.
The company, which said its decision to invest was driven by Carter’s recommendation, is now trying to “clawback” the funds after all of Vlacho’s poorly performing podcast episodes were hastily removed from YouTube and other streamers when the scandal erupted.
Carter – who served as a Top Gun pilot and instructor during 38 years in the Navy – admitted in one episode he was a “frequent flyer” on the floundering show, appearing as a guest at least nine times since 2024.
JobsOhio also dished out $10,000 to sponsor a January 2025 event for vets and military families at Ohio State, calling it an “opportunity that Ms. Vlachos brought our attention.”
The agency’s handouts for Vlachos came to an end after she requested a $2.9 million investment in her proposed mobile app, which aimed to help Ohio veterans get jobs.
An Ohio State spokesman previously confirmed officials were investigating an LLC registered to Vlachos at a university-owned building, in connection with the ex-leader’s departure.
Carter and Vlachos have not responded publicly to the relationship allegations.
With Post wires.
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