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Trotwood-Madison board split over transportation in‑lieu payments; motion to approve fails
Summary
The Trotwood-Madison City Schools board debated required in‑lieu transportation payments to private/charter schools and declined to approve the payments as presented, citing concerns over cost and timing; superintendent said the district remains legally obligated and will return with clarifications.
TROTWOOD-MADISON CITY — The school board split over routine in‑lieu transportation payments on Feb. 5, rejecting a motion to approve the payments as presented while staff agreed to return with a verified list of students and guidance about district filing deadlines.
Superintendent Howard presented the annual request for approval of in‑lieu payments — payments the district makes when students attend private, parochial or charter schools outside the district — and said the per‑student amount has increased from roughly $500 last year to a new minimum cited in the packet of $607.15. The superintendent offered a rough district estimate of about $73,000 in total payments and noted the district typically waits for verification from the enrollment clerk, Miss Rogers, before issuing checks.
Board members split over whether the district should process payments now or wait for outstanding applications and state guidance. One board member argued the payments were effectively “attacks on public schools,” saying the district was paying taxpayers’ dollars to send students to schools that did not outperform neighborhood options: “we're cutting checks for them to go to a school that doesn't perform better than the one in their neighborhood.”
At roll call on the motion to approve the payments as presented, at least one trustee voted no. Later in the meeting a board member summarized the result: “We had the vote and then... It didn't pass.” Superintendent Howard said the district still must meet its legal obligations and pledged to bring back a complete, verified list of students and a clarified district cutoff date for applications.
Board members discussed the verification process: Miss Rogers will confirm enrollments in March and staff will not process checks until verification is complete. The superintendent also noted the state’s guidance on deadlines contains some gray areas and that the district will contact the state to confirm whether it may enforce a local deadline for late applications.
The board’s decision was procedural: it declined to approve the payment list at that meeting, not to deny the district’s obligation to pay amounts that meet statutory requirements. The superintendent said staff will return with the requested clarifications for the board to consider at a future meeting.
What’s next: The superintendent will provide a verified list of eligible students and the district will seek state clarification on application cutoffs before bringing the item back to the board for action.
