Tipp City Schools:Anti-Catholic or Simply Vindictive?

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Tipp Students going to St. Chris will be home really late tonight.

As the Tipp City School Board comes off its Town Hall Meeting to discuss a 5 year financial plan for improved buildings, facilities and services, catholic families in the School District will have to re-think their transportation options for their kids.  In a recent decision by the Tipp City Schools, families who use the schools’ buses to transport their children to and from the local catholic schools will have a lot longer trip home-VIA DOWNTOWN DAYTON.

Under a U.S. Supreme Court ruling local public schools must provide school bus transportation to and from religious schools.  This is part of the Court’s longstanding “wall of separation” that tolerates a certain level of cooperation between and among parochial schools and the public school systems across the country.  One of the principles espoused in the ruling, and its progeny, was that since citizens of any given school district pay taxes for the local school district, but don’t get any use of the school because they go to a religious school (at extra expense) the public school system should provide some benefits to these parents for the taxes that they pay.  One of these benefits is in the form of transportation to and from school.  This is why Tipp City School buses make their rounds to and from St. Christopher in Vandalia, or Troy Christian to the North.  There is no catholic or Christian school in Tipp City.  In the case of St. Christopher and parts south of Tipp, the students have been provided with bus service for years.  However, few, if any families ever took advantage of the law which allows them to request transportation all the way to Chaminade-Julienne High School in downtown Dayton.

That is, until now.  The Huffman family, whose daughter is a freshman in the school this year, requested that Tipp assist them in coordinating bus service for their daughter.  They contacted Tipp Schools, St. Christopher, C.J. and even the Vandalia-Butler School System, which sends a bus to C.J. every day.   Tipp Schools offered to simply provide the minimum state stipend which is a monetary payment of less then $200.00 representing the low-end of the estimated costs of the City to provide this service. In many cases, a family will simply accept the money, and make due, by car-pooling, driving the student themselves, or whatever else.  In the recent case, the Huffman family declined the stipend, and requested the bus service for their daughter. Unfortunately, she is the only Tipp Student going to C.J. at this point who needs bus service. The Tipp City School District gladly agreed to provide the bus service to C.J. but in doing so, it “modified” its other route to St Christopher.  Now, all St. Christopher students will board the Tipp City bus at the end of the day, and instead of heading home for Tipp, their bus will go on Interstate 75, all the way to downtown Dayton to pick-up this one C.J. Student.  There are currently 29 students at St. Chris from Tipp.  They will all have to make the trip.

Parents of the St. Christopher students are outraged.  In a letter sent home with students on the Tipp School bus, Superintendent John Kronour informed parents yesterday that the new route would take effect Thursday September 24, 2009.  That is 2 days’ notice.  The letter also stated that the arrival time for St. Christopher students could be as late as 4:10 in the afternoon.  St. Chris lets out at 2:30.

So if you have a child at St. Christopher, don’t expect him or her to be home for a while.  They will be taking a nice tour of downtown Dayton each day before they go home.  Angry parents have called the school board offices and have all gotten the same response: “our actions are in accordance with state law and there are no other alternatives.   This is all because of the parents who want bus service to C.J.” Parents disagree. Several options have been offered, including linking up with the bus in Vandalia.   “This is all just an effort to divide and conquer” said one parent, who wished not to be identified because of fear of reprisal.  “The letter almost blames these parents for sending their child to C.J.”   Others are in fear of reprisal much like downtown Tipp City businesses lived in fear of pay-back from the city for speaking out against the local tax credit issue.  Another parent raised the question of whether the Tipp City School system is anti-catholic.  “We pay our taxes, we involve ourselves in the community, and in our kids’ education, and it’s almost as if they resent us for it.  Heaven forbid we ask for what we are entitled to under the law”.  Others are questioning the wisdom of such a decision.  “They’re making 29 students at St. Chris go all the way down to downtown Dayton with all the construction, the danger, and the time and hassle all just to pick up one kid? It doesn’t make any sense”.  Why would the Tipp City School Board expose these students to danger (and liability) to do it this way?” asks Robert Schwab, with 2 kids at St. Chris.  Still others were upset at the short notice.  Joe Gibson, also with 2 kids at St. Chris stated “It would have been nice to have been informed of this over the summer when this initially became an issue.  They tell us on Tuesday that on Thursday, my kids won’t be home for two hours.  This is ridiculous.”  Critics have pointed out that   Tipp Schools are more than willing to send a school bus full of athletes halfway across the state for a sporting event, and pay a driver to sit in the parking lot and wait for the event to be over.  But they can’t afford send someone to a school building TO LEARN.

Parents plan on presenting their concerns to the next meeting of the Tipp City School Board.  In the mean-time that one family has been single-out by a few of the St. Chris parents.  The mom reports receiving a few calls from angry parents.  “They seem to think it’s our fault”.  All we did was ask for help.  Help that the law says we are entitled to.”  Now we have this situation.  No word from the State of Ohio Department of Education on the Mediation hearing concerning the C.J. student. Information concerning the fact-finding effort referenced in the School’s letter has also not been released.  Until then, catholic kids in Tipp City will be home late for dinner.