Gadfly Bites 5/27/26—A winning bid

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1. Youngstown City Schools is looking to fully outsource its student transportation for next school year, with an eye toward more (and better?) service and a lower price tag. Interestingly, because they have so many requirements of a contractor—which includes hiring all current district drivers, keeping them at the same pay level, and retaining their collective bargaining agreement—only one company is “bidding” for the gig. Their quote is cheaper than the current in-house price, but one definitely wonders how much better a deal Youngstown could have gotten had they actually allowed the market to work without their unionized thumb on the scale. (WFMJ-TV, Youngstown, 5/26/26)
   
   

2. A very different sort of crisis happening out in the ‘burbs. Parents of some rising sixth graders in Fairview Park City School District (even its name sounds idyllic) were incensed to find no traditional phys ed class on their kids’ schedules for next year, having already come to terms—grudgingly—with the end of daily recess. Administrators tried pointing to the “many academic mandates” they have to meet, citing college/career readiness pathways and saying the day was full. Karen and Darren were not buying the fact that daily mentoring time would include “wellness” and “movement” (so the district could meet state phys ed requirements without a gym class) and so Fairview Park will now offer a physical education class which parents can choose as part of their sixth graders’ roster of electives. Proper gym classes return in seventh grade. Whew! (WKBN-TV, Youngstown, 5/27/26)
   
   

3. Back to the topic of student transportation: Here are two subscriber-only legal updates of some interest. First up is a ruling out of Franklin County Common Pleas Court that continues to block the state from enforcing a law aimed at stopping Dayton City Schools’ use of public transit to transport high school students. Despite some efforts to clean up the originally-enjoined legislative language from the state budget bill, Judge David Young ruled there’s a strong likelihood that a revised version of the language contained in House Bill 184 is also “unconstitutional beyond any reasonable doubt” and thus should not be allowed to go into effect either. (Gongwer Ohio/State Affairs 5/26/26) Secondly, the Ohio Supreme Court last week dismissed the state’s lawsuit against Columbus City Schools for its use of “impractical to transport” designation to deny bus service to 1,000 charter and private school students. While the 5-2 ruling ultimately cited a lack of standing on the part of the Ohio Attorney General to bring such a suit, there was also some commentary from the justices that the actual number of impacted individuals was much smaller than originally claimed. (Gongwer Ohio/State Affairs, 5/26/26)
   
   

4. Finally today—to end on an up note—here’s a nice look at former State Superintendent (and former National Guardsman) Paul Craft as he gets settled in to his new role as director of the U.S. Department of War’s Education Activity (DOWEA). Craft notes several areas of initial focus for him, including expanding classical education and “a much deeper focus on core knowledge, of building core knowledge” among DOWEA’s 67,000 students around the world. (Reserve and National Guard Magazine, 5/26/26)

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