Staff photo / Ed Runyan A Youngstown police cruiser parks amid buses at the Western Reserve Transit Authority terminal in downtown Youngstown. City police plan to use grant funds to increase patrols there in the wake of repeated fights and disturbances there in recent months.

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown City Schools and the Western Reserve Transit Authority have exchanged letters to clarify their positions on disturbances involving what police believe are city school district students at the WRTA’s downtown bus station and elsewhere downtown.

The letters were sent Thursday on the same day that Youngstown officials announced the Youngstown Police Department was going to use grant funds to address “safety efforts” regarding disturbances involving juveniles that have repeatedly cropped up at the downtown bus station, even dating back to the previous school year.

WRTA Chief Executive Officer Dean Harris wrote the first letter to Youngstown City Schools Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor that began with Harris expressing his “profound disappointment and escalating concern regarding the ongoing and unacceptable behavior of students on our buses, at the transit station and throughout the downtown area.”

Harris focused his statements on what he said was the WRTA’s repeated requests for “partnership, resources and accountability from the (school) district to help manage student conduct, identify those responsible for repeated disruptions and — most importantly — ensure that students are getting home safely.”

Harris stated that the school district “has failed to meet this moment with the urgency or responsibility it demands.”

Chief among Harris’s concerns appears to be the statement that came from the school district after a March 12, 2026, Youngstown police report detailed a 4:05 p.m. altercation that the police department said involved 40 to 50 YCSD students gathering in front of the downtown WRTA bus station, causing vehicular traffic on West Federal Street to back up as fights among students broke out.

The report stated such fighting has been an “ongoing issue in the downtown area during both the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026 calendar school years,” adding that fights involving high school students had been happening “almost daily during the school calendar year.” Downtown businesses have been calling to complain about the disruptions, the police report noted.

Police used pepper spray to address the March 12 disruption, and the participants fled. The police department was waiting for the opportunity to view WRTA surveillance video that was believed to show the fights and chaos, but no arrests or criminal charges were reported.

In response to a Vindicator request for comment on that incident, school district spokeswoman Stacy Quinones stated March 13 that the school district had viewed the police report from the March 12 incident and questioned whether all the 40 to 50 individuals involved were Youngstown City Schools students, stating “we are currently unable to verify the enrollment status of all 40-50 individuals involved, as this incident occurred outside school property, where we do not have jurisdiction.”

She added, that “we want to be clear that, at this time, it is an assumption that all involved are students from our buildings; transit hubs often include a diverse mix of adults and youth from the region.”

The Quinones letter stated that school district students must adhere to the school-district code of conduct, adding, “Because the incidents occurred at the WRTA during non-school hours and at a non-school event outside our buildings, they fall outside the geographical and operational boundaries of our educational authority. The oversight of public and business spaces remains with local law enforcement and city agencies, rather than with the district or other schools whose students also use public transit.”

WRTA LETTER

Harris’ letter stated that WRTA officials were “particularly troubled by the school district statement “asserting that this issue ‘falls outside of the geographical and operational boundaries of our educational authority.'”

Harris said that statement “signals an unwillingness to take ownership of a situation that directly involves students and requires coordinated responsibility from all stakeholders. Everyone is contributing to a solution — except the Youngstown City School District.”

Harris’ letter stated that the WRTA was making a “demand” that the school district deploy school-resource officers or district security personnel “at key transit locations,” assign school-district administrators “during peak dismissal times,” “active collaboration with our team to identify and address repeat offenders,” and “clear communication with students and families regarding behavior expectations and consequences.”

SUPERINTENDENT

Youngstown Superintendent Jeremy Batchelor responded by letter to Harris the same day — Thursday — stating that the school district shares Harris’ concern for the safety of students and the community and “I take both your message and the situation seriously.”

Batchelor stated that the school district has not ignored the issue, “nor is it one we view as outside of our responsibility. We have been actively working — alongside law enforcement and community partners — to address student conduct, supervision and accountability in and around transit spaces.

“I do want to be equally clear about the reality we are operating within,” Batchelor stated. “We have deployed district security to key areas when personnel is available; however, we cannot and will not leave our school buildings unsecured to do so. Our security force, like many across the region, is currently stretched thin due to a variety of factors. Despite that, we have made every effort to be present and responsive where and when we can,” Batchelor continued.

He mentioned that the school district had been in communication with Youngstown Police Chief Sharon Cole and Capt. Rod Foley to “ensure alignment and coordination with the Youngstown Police Department. That collaboration is ongoing and remains a critical part of addressing these concerns in a meaningful way.”

And the school district has also “maintained ongoing communication with our students and families regarding behavioral expectations, accountability and the seriousness of conduct both during and after the school day.” His letter stated that the disturbances are a “shared community issue that requires a coordinated, unified response. No single entity — WRTA, law enforcement or the city — can solve in isolation.”

He said any “perception or assertion that the (school) district is unwilling to take ownership is simply not accurate and disrespectful. We are engaged, we are acting and we are committed,” adding, “This is exactly the kind of moment where ‘One vision. One Youngstown’ must move from words to action.”

POLICE GRANT

Also on Thursday, Youngstown spokesman Andy Resnick issued a news release announcing the Youngstown Police Department would be using an Ohio Department of Public Safety grant to address downtown quality-of-life issues, including disturbances near the downtown WRTA bus terminal.

It stated that partners in the effort are the WRTA, the city school district and two other schools in the city. It also stated that police officers would be “assigned to the bus station area to help enforce laws related to compulsory attendance violations, criminal-trespass and disorderly-conduct infractions,” as well as possible school sanctions.

BACKGROUND

In June 2024, the Youngstown City Schools Board of Education voted to discontinue district-provided transportation for high school students, as well as charter and nonpublic high schools for which the district had provided the service, with an exception for those with transportation as part of their individualized educational plans, according to Vindicator files.

As a result, nearly all of the students who lost school district busing have used Western Reserve Transit Authority city buses to get to and from school, officials have said. Batchelor has said the primary reason for eliminating most high school busing was a shortage of bus drivers, which he said is a continuing problem affecting Youngstown and schools statewide.

Youngstown City Schools Business Manager Nancy Miklos said in December 2025 that chronic driver absenteeism was also a chief concern. To counteract that problem, the district was offering prospective drivers $24 per hour to be trained six hours per day and five days per week.

In return, they would have to work in the district at least 18 months, she said. Drivers earn $24.78 per hour, Miklos noted.

WRTA spokesman Jordan Pennell stated last week that WRTA does not provide exclusive services for district students in grades 9 to 12. Instead, “students may utilize WRTA for transportation in the same manner as the rest of the general public.”

ANOTHER OPTION

Batchelor’s letter Thursday to Harris noted that Batchelor’s “offer to help fund school-specific (bus) routes still stands — an option we first put forward during our June 10, 2024, meeting. That opportunity remains on the table because we are committed to solutions that prioritize student safety and reliability,” Batchelor stated.

Batchelor copied the letter to Youngstown City School board members, Mayor Derrick McDowell, the Mahoning County commissioners, Chief Cole, Mahoning County Sheriff Jerry Greene and YSU Police Chief Shawn Varso.

Batchelor stated the reason for copying the letter to those people was to “highlight” the offer Batchelor made to WRTA for school-specific bus routes so that they would “have the full perspective of all YCSD has done and offered to do to be good partners in our city.”