Families whose children aren't eligible for district busing will again receive a cash payment from Dublin City Schools this school year, after the Board of Education unanimously approved a payment-in-lieu of transportation arrangement for 2026-27 at its Monday, Aug. 10 meeting.

The vote came 10 days before the first day of school on Aug. 20.

Under Ohio law, districts that determine busing is impractical for certain students must offer families a payment instead. The arrangement does not apply to families who simply prefer not to use available bus service. The district did not disclose the per-student payment amount at the meeting.

Board members Christopher Valentine, Tara Seward, board president Amy Messick and Vice President Tiffany deSilva voted 4-0 on every action item during the 79-minute session. McClain was absent. No explanation was given in the meeting minutes.

The board also approved a new baseball maintenance worker position, a restatement of the district's 403(b) retirement plan, three budget transfers and a resolution for META Cooperative Bidding for 2026-27 on the treasurer's recommendation. A separate vote authorized a fee payment to Riddle Investigations, the private investigator service Dublin uses to identify students enrolled in the district but living outside its boundaries. In 2023-24, the most recent year with published data, the district paid Riddle $12,475 and identified 33 out-of-district students, saving an estimated $431,409 in tuition costs.

Monday's meeting was the first regular session under Superintendent Jennifer Schwanke, who took over Aug. 1 after the board accepted John Marschhausen's resignation at a July 21 special meeting. Schwanke spent nearly 28 years in the district as a teacher, coach and administrator before her appointment. As we reported Aug. 8, Marschhausen has since taken a workforce development role at Ohio State University.

The board also heard a presentation from Tolles Career & Technical Center, the Plain City-based vocational school that serves about 268 students from member districts including Dublin.

Board president Messick said in a district release on July 21, when Schwanke's appointment was announced, that the board chose to skip a national search: "We can dispense with that and get to work immediately on the challenges before us because we have the ideal candidate already in our district."

Dublin City Schools serves nearly 17,000 students across its three high schools, middle schools and elementary buildings. The district's next regular board meeting date has not been posted, but families can check the BoardDocs page for updates as the school year begins Aug. 20.