In Swiech v. Board of Education for the Sylvania City School District, (OH App., Feb. 7, 2025), an Ohio state appellate court affirmed the dismissal of a suit brought by the mother of elementary school children. Plaintiff claimed that the hub-and-spoke bussing arrangement for transporting of children to Catholic elementary schools violates her free exercise and equal protection rights. Public school students were furnished direct home-to-school bus transportation. The court said in part:
The first step in analyzing an equal protection claim is determining the appropriate standard of review....
... [B]ecause this case does not involve a fundamental right or a suspect class, rational basis review applies.
... [I]t is rational and reasonable to classify public school students separately from nonpublic and community school students based on the differences in how many students attend each school, where the students are located in relation to their school, and when the schools start and end....
... Swiech’s argument that she receives lesser governmental benefits as a consequence of the exercise of religion lacks nuance. Swiech’s children receive different transportation not because she is exercising her religion, but because she chooses to send them to a nonpublic or community school. All students residing in the School District who attend a nonpublic or community school are similarly transported regardless of whether they attend a religious or non-religious school. ...
In any event, we agree with the School District that its bussing plan does not have a coercive affect against Swiech in the practice of her religion. While the bussing plan may impact Swiech’s and her children’s sleep schedules, work schedules, and medication schedules, it does not interfere with their ability to practice their religion. Indeed, the School District’s bussing plan ensures that Swiech’s children are able to attend their chosen religious school on time every day.
