A group of around 400 south Dublin families have filed a formal complaint with the Dublin City School District, alleging its new school attendance maps are the result of "discrimination based on race, color, national origin, socioeconomic background, and place of residence," according to a copy of the complaint.
The families all live in the southwest area of the district's Thomas Elementary School zone, which was redistricted in June to send the area's high school students to Scioto High School instead of Coffman High School. The families allege in their Aug. 24 complaint that the district targeted their community, which has more non-white, economically disadvantaged students, for redistricting over more affluent, majority-white neighborhoods
in the northern half of the district.
The complaint asks the district to pause implementation of the maps for their community, launch an independent investigation, reopen the redistricting process or do a spot redistricting of the southwest Thomas area and release maps, data and other redistricting records, according to the complaint.
Gregory Vincent, a lawyer and spokesperson for the families, announced Sept. 8 that the complaint had been filed with the school district. The district has already appointed an independent investigator to look into the complaint, he said.
In a written statement provided to The Dispatch, Dublin City Schools acknowledged that it had received the complaint and would follow its internal procedures moving forward.
"We recognize that redistricting has been challenging for our community and that school assignment changes can have a significant impact on students and families. The District believes the redistricting process was conducted in accordance with applicable Board policies, including Policy 5120, Assignment Within District, which establishes the Superintendent’s responsibility for determining attendance areas and assigning students to schools," the district wrote.
The families allege former Superintendent John Marschhausen, wholeft the district shortly after the redistricting process ended, was biased against south Dublin.
According to a witness who signed a sworn affidavit attached to the complaint, Marschhausen said in February 2023 that he wished the district "didn't have the lower-income brown kids across the river bringing down our test scores." The families allege he was referring to Columbus residents who attend Dublin City Schools, which includes families in the southwest area of the Thomas Elementary School zone.
Marschhausen could not immediately be reached for comment.
The complaint also alleges the district violated its own policies, misapplied redistricting criteria, and withheld alternative maps and other redistricting data throughout the mapping process. They allege that the district's new superintendent, Jen Schwanke, is refusing to correct the maps because of public fatigue and to avoid conflict before an upcoming tax levy.
If the maps are enacted, the families' children would face "adverse educational harm" by transferring to Scioto High School, a facility with "documented performance gaps," according to the complaint. Scioto earned an overall four-star rating on its 2025 school report card, lower than Coffman High School's 4.5-star rating.
The largest gap is in Scioto High's two-star rating on the college, career, workforce and military readiness metric, compared to Coffman's four-star rating, according to state report card data.
The new maps would also concentrate nearly 100% of the district's Columbus residents, and a chunk of the district's English-learner and minority populations in Scioto High School, according to the complaint.
Once the independent investigation is complete, the superintendent will make a final decision on the complaint. The group of families noted in their complaint that they reserve the right to take any legal actions to address the issue, including actions involving the Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, the U.S. Department of Justice or the federal court system, according to the complaint.
Reporter Nathan Hart can be reached at NHart@dispatch.com, @NathanRHart on X and nathanhart.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: South Dublin families allege Dublin City Schools discriminated against them via redistricting
