What changed for 2026-27
Columbus City Schools stopped busing K-8 students to lottery schools that aren't 100% lottery schools, unless it's the child's assigned school. The board made the cut to save about $7.8 million, and the district planned 419 bus routes this fall, down from 494 last year (WSYX, August 5, 2026 (opens in a new tab)).
High school busing didn't change. The district says no changes are planned there.
Columbus City Schools bus eligibility: who still rides
| Grade band | Distance rule | How it's measured | Exceptions |
|---|---|---|---|
| K-8 at the assigned school for your address | More than 2 miles from the school | Not stated on the district's page | Students placed for specialized services keep their bus at any school. |
| K-8 at a 100% lottery school | More than 2 miles from the school | Not stated on the district's page | Same. The nine 100% lottery schools: Arts Impact Middle, Africentric Elementary and Middle, Columbus City Prep for Boys, Columbus City Prep for Girls, Columbus Spanish Immersion, Duxberry Park, Ecole Kenwood, Indianola K-8, World Language Middle. |
| K-8 at any other lottery school (a school you chose that isn't your assigned one) | No bus at any distance | Placed there for specialized services, or displaced from your assigned school. Middle schools on this list: Buckeye, Champion, Dominion, Hilltonia, Johnson Park, Linden-McKinley (7-8), Medina, Mifflin, Ridgeview, Sherwood, South (7-8), Wedgewood, Westmoor, Woodward Park. The elementary list is longer; check the district's page. | |
| High school (9-12) | No change for 2026-27 | High schoolers ride COTA free on the Student Success Card. |
Every rider must live inside Columbus City Schools boundaries.
Source: CCS School Choice Busing Updates (opens in a new tab), checked October 15, 2026.
If there's no bus
Ask first. The district's page lists no appeal, but it does list two exceptions: a child placed at the school for specialized services, or displaced from their assigned school, keeps the bus. If either might apply, call the Transportation Call Center (614-365-5074). School Choice (614-365-7459) can talk through moving back to your assigned school, which the district names as an option.
Then transit, honestly. Every Columbus student carries a Student Success Card, but the district says (opens in a new tab) the free COTA ride on it is for grades 9 to 12 only. The families who lost the bus are the ones whose kids can't ride transit alone. A third grader at a choice school across town has two options: a parent's car, or somebody else's.
Then a carpool.
Finding families
A choice school fills from the whole city, so your nearest classmate may live four miles away in the other direction. Ask by side of town. In the school's parent group or PTO, post your neighborhood and the drop-off time, then ask who's coming from the same direction. "Clintonville, 8 a.m. drop-off, anyone else north?" gets answers. "Anyone want to carpool?" doesn't.
Carpool ideas for a choice school
- Meet halfway. A parking lot on the way for two families beats door-to-door for one.
- Split mornings from afternoons. Plenty of parents can do 7:45 and can't do 3:00. One family takes every morning, the other every afternoon, and nobody leaves work early. In Carpool-Q the drop-off and the pickup are separate slots with their own driver, so a mornings-only family and an afternoons-only family fit in one schedule.
- Count siblings. If an older child still rides a bus or COTA, the carpool only has to cover the younger one, and that's a smaller car to fill.
- Applying in January? The district tells families applying to a school that isn't 100% lottery to plan their own transportation first. Take that literally. A school you can't reach five days a week isn't really a choice.
Whatever split you pick, write it down where both families can see it. A free printable carpool schedule (no account needed) does the job.
Two families on opposite schedules is a carpool. Keep it on one page.
- One shared week on every family's phone, with a driver for each drop-off and pickup.
- Mark a rider "not riding" for a day, or swap a day, and every family sees it.
- If tomorrow has no driver, the whole carpool gets an alert the evening before.
Each family starts with 14 days free. You invite the others by email or a text from the app.
Each family has its own account: 14 days free, then $1.99 a month per family. You invite the other families by email or a text from the app.
Not ready for an app? Get the free printable carpool schedule (no account needed).
Carpool-Q is not affiliated with Columbus City Schools. Facts on this page come from the district's website and the news report linked above, for the 2026-27 school year, checked October 15, 2026. Next check: July 2027.