Slowly and carefully, Betina, who came from Haiti to Ohio in 2021, navigates a Toyota SUV between five traffic cones in a parking lot north-west of Springfield.

Betina, who works for a produce processing company, has never driven before. But now, four years into life in Springfield, she has grasped the challenge of learning to drive.

“I live close to my job, so driving is not that big a deal,” she says.

“But I’m taking these classes because when I want to go to Columbus or Dayton, I can drive myself there.”

Sitting in the passenger seat is driving instructor Josue Pierre, who came to Springfield two years ago, calmly delivering guidance in Haitian Creole.

“Many Haitians had been complaining that when they took the driving test and failed, they were then sent to take the abbreviated adult driver training online, but most of them don’t speak English,” Pierre says later.

“By doing the in-person course with the help of a Creole speaker, that helped them a lot.”

For years, longtime Springfield residents have shown up at city council meetings to complain to authorities about how Haitian drivers were allegedly driving dangerously around the town. Stories emerged of people, allegedly Haitians, accidentally driving into church buildings. Others were blamed for accidents causing deaths and at one point last year, as many as 2,300 Haitians were thought to be driving without licenses in Springfield’s Clark county.

The tragic death of an 11-year-old student whose school bus was hit by a Haitian man driving without a valid license in August 2023, played a major role in Haitians becoming a target for a national debate on immigration during last year’s presidential election campaign.

But recent months have seen significant efforts under way to solve an issue that has been used to shape the Trump administration’s drastic immigration policies.

“The motivation came from getting a lot of calls from Haitian folks asking if we offered our classes in languages they understand,” says John Whitacre, the owner of Champion City Drivers Ed, the company that employs Pierre.

“Once we started looking into this, we found that there was nowhere in Ohio doing this. Almost 100% of the Haitian people [who have taken the driving lessons] come back and show us appreciation.”

The Ohio state highway patrol’s crash dashboard shows that crashes in Springfield so far this year are set to fall compared with 2024. In the first four months of 2024, 598 crashes were reported. Over the same period this year, the number fell to 542.

Ten driving simulators were made available in six locations across Springfield, including at two churches that members of the Haitian community attend, with the goal of helping Haitians and others improve their driving skills.

“Last year, we added a Haitian Creole translation of the Ohio Driver Manual Digest of Motor Vehicle Laws. An interactive Haitian Creole version is available on our website and is provided in a printable PDF format,” says Bret Crow, a spokesperson for the Ohio department of public safety.

“The Bureau of Motor Vehicles (BMV) also provided newly translated Haitian Creole versions of several of the most common BMV forms to deputy registrar offices.”

With a population of just 60,000 people and an abundance of manufacturing and other labor-intensive jobs coming out of the pandemic, Springfield found itself a desirable location for immigrants such as Haitians. But with an estimated 15,000 people arriving in the city over the past seven years, strain on already limited social services was heightened.

Communities such as Springfield have been losing residents – a vital source of tax dollars that pay for essential public resources – for decades. Springfield leaders have welcomed the revitalization and tax dollars Haitian immigrants have fueled.

But sharing the road has presented challenges.

Many of the Haitians who have come to Springfield are from rural Haiti, says Pierre, a part of the country where driving and car ownership isn’t a common practice.

“Now, when they come here and have a car, they don’t have a background in driving so that makes it challenging,” says Pierre, who became involved and qualified with driver training certifications after encountering Whitacre through a local church.

Since the in-person Haitian Creole classes started in December, more than 100 Haitian clients have signed up, securing a success rate of over 90%, say the company owners.

The eight-hour course includes four hours of class instruction and four hours behind the wheel. “We do an hour of maneuverability, driving in a commercial zone, a residential zone and on the highway,” says Pierre, who also gives classes in English and Spanish.

“Things are getting better in driving; there are less accidents, crashes and injuries.”

Last year, Springfield police received a $50,000 grant to promote traffic safety enforcement.

But just as many Haitians in Springfield are securing tools such as driving skills to better integrate in the Springfield community, the Trump administration is ending legal visa programs for Haitians such as humanitarian parole and temporary protected status. Those on the latter program now find themselves being forced to leave the US by 3 August.

The Guardian previously reported that many Haitians began leaving Springfield within days of Trump’s election win in November.

Crow of the Ohio department of public safety says there are up to five trainers who speak English and Haitian Creole available to help during driver simulation sessions.

Although the new driver training opportunities are welcomed, challenges remain.

When the Guardian visited recently, driving simulators located at the Clark county department of job and family services in Springfield were not easily accessible to the public.

“[Driving] simulators are a tool – they don’t replace the real thing. The challenge with the simulators [located around the city] is that sometimes they are not staffed by someone who speaks the language the user understands,” says Whitacre.

“And the simulator systems are not available in Haitian Creole, so people who don’t speak English are not going to be able to navigate them. That’s the biggest challenge with that.”

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A member of the Ohio State Board of Education on Monday criticized a proposal in the Ohio House’s version of the state budget bill slashing the panel from its current 19 members to five.

Currently, 11 members are elected to the state school board and eight are appointed by the governor. The Ohio House wants the five members to be all appointees.

The proposal is the latest blow to the State Board of Education, which used to oversee education policy in the state. The board was besieged by infighting in recent years. Then three Democrats were elected to the board in 2022, and the GOP-dominated General Assembly gutted the panel of its power over education policy by creating the new Department of Education and Workforce, led by a cabinet-level gubernatorial appointee.

The Ohio State Board of Education still remains in place and meets monthly. But it is only in charge of educator licensing, misconduct investigations, selecting the teacher of the year and approving local school district territory transfers. It selects a state superintendent of public instruction, who manages a staff of about 60 people who run the licensure and investigative functions of the agency.

DEW is in charge of standardized testing, administering public and private school voucher funding, creating model curricula for local districts to use, and implementing the legislature’s and Gov. Mike DeWine’s education priorities in areas such as the “science of reading” approach to literacy education.

READ MORE: Science of reading: Ohio schools changing approach to teaching literacy this year

During a monthly meeting on Monday, State Board of Education member Teresa Fedor, an elected member who represents an area around Bowling Green and a former Democratic state lawmaker, said that the board combined has 295 years of experience in education, which allows for nuanced discussions about the teaching profession.

Fedor said that there was no stand-alone bill reducing the size of the board to five people, which would have allowed members of the public to share their feelings on the issue.

Ohio has about 400 educator licenses and permits when including bus drivers, coaches, different types of administrators, and licenses for teachers of subjects such as computer science, Fedor said.

“I’m worried about not having enough teaching experience on that board to make the serious decisions,” she said. “There are a lot of unanswered questions and maybe unintended consequences and whether you support that move or not, I care about getting the best qualified teachers in front of all our students and being held accountable for that.”

Cleveland.com/The Plain Dealer asked a spokeswoman for the House Republicans about the reasoning for the proposed board member reduction.

A fiscal document associated with the budget said that the state will save roughly $50,000 a year if the board decreases to five members. The members are paid $32.02 an hour. In 2024, the average compensation was about $3,500. They also receive travel reimbursements.

The House’s budget proposal would abolish the office of each elected member upon expiration of their current term, or if a member resigned and there was a vacancy in their office.

The budget is currently under consideration in the Ohio Senate. The legislature must pass the budget by July 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

Laura Hancock covers state government and politics for The Plain Dealer and cleveland.com.

Marvin Harrison had a tremendous NFL career. Marvin Harrison Jr. had a fantastic college career at Ohio State before becoming the fourth-overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft. Now, 2028 wide receiver Jett Harrison is looking to carve his own path on the gridiron. Before then, though, he might just follow in his brother’s footsteps.

The youngest Harrison received an Ohio State offer on Sunday, his first Division I offer.

Ohio State just offered Class of 2028 WR Jett Harrison

He is the younger brother of former OSU WR Marvin Harrison Jr.https://t.co/VjRsoysysS pic.twitter.com/9x6D2uinYl

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— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) May 11, 2025

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound receiver saw playing time as a freshman and is in line to start for St. Joseph’s to begin his sophomore season.

Before Jett even began his high school career, Marvin Jr. had very high praise, admitting his younger brother was more talented than he was at that early stage of his development.

“He’s great. He’s more talented than I ever was at that age,” Harrison said of Jett on Nov. 1, 2023. “He’s starting early with the routes and everything from my dad. I am super excited to see how he comes along. It’s gonna be very scary to see how he progresses.”

Check out this look at the Jett Harrison TD from our guy @natesportsmedia @HSFBamerica @BadgleyBruce @CaryMoyer @Get__Recruited @JSantoliquito https://t.co/ac3V451Idv pic.twitter.com/cq0z0sqiUc

— EasternPAFootball (@EPAFootball) November 16, 2024

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In addition to Marvin giving high praise for Jett, he also noted his younger brother wants to play for the Buckeyes, just like his brother.

“He sees me here, and naturally, he wants to follow in my footsteps,” he said.

Harrison is the third 2028 wide receiver to receive an offer from Ohio State, joining Chaminade-Madonna (Florida) wideout Peter Pierre and IMG Academy (Florida) wide receiver Eric McFarland.