Ohio School Boards Association

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TO: Lisa Shanks, Treasurer Sylvania City School District

Keith Limes, Associate Superintendent, Sylvania City School District FR: Pete Japikse, Senior transportation consultant
RE: Type IV / impractical review Date: February 13, 2019
I have reviewed the transportation costs for the district and transportation details for a number of non-district schools, including MVCD, St Johns, Toledo Christian, and Bounty Collegium. It is my understanding that the district is considering asking the school board to declare transportation for these students impractical.
I calculated the cost per student for the four schools identified, and reviewed the reasons as listed in statute. Please find the key points listed below.
The cost of transportation for each of these students is significantly higher than the average cost of student for Sylvania schools. (please see accompanying document). The average cost per student for transportation in Sylvania is $817 per year. The cost per student for the schools identified in this study ranges from
$5,825 to $13,715 per student.
In each case, the transportation of these students on a timely basis to their school of choice interferes with the use of the buses for students attending traditional public schools within the district. In these cases, the buses are transporting from one to 13 students to the nonpublic schools, when the average riders per bus on district school routes is 57.61.
Surrounding public districts have informed Sylvania staff that they will not consider transporting Sylvania students to the schools in question. This communication has been documented via email communication.
The use of public transit for these schools is not practical. Bus stops and route times are set for public conveyance and do not match school times, locations, or student residences. TARTA is prohibited by FTA tripper rules from adjusting routes or stops to accommodate school students.
The district previously declared transportation impractical for other nonpublic schools with lower ridership and higher cost. That action is also appropriate for these schools
Costs as calculated within this review were based upon the publicly available T1 and T2 state reports from the FY19 school year. Cost per student were based upon the demonstrated cost per bus as reported on the T2.
It is my professional opinion that after considering the reasons identified in RC 3327.02 for impracticality with respect to these schools, sufficient grounds exist to ask the Sylvania board to declare transportation impractical for the students currently being transported to these schools.

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