The Orange County School Board considered a sweeping proposal Tuesday to regulate electric bikes and scooters — vehicles that thousands of students now ride to campus — but stopped short of reaching a consensus.
Read more Federal court strikes down Florida’s Stop WOKE Act in higher ed
Citing safety concerns, school district staff recommended the board prohibit the electric vehicles on elementary school campuses, require students to get a permit for their e-bikes and scooters — obtainable only after watching a safety video — and ban the fastest bikes. Some board members said they wanted to ban e-bikes and scooters all together.
Orange County Public Schools, like cities and counties around Central Florida, is struggling with how to regulate the popular vehicles as accidents and injuries spike. This school year, one student was seriously injured and another was killed while riding so-called micro-mobility devices off campus.
Now, about 42% of OCPS middle school students, 32% of high school students and 26% of elementary school students use an e-bike or e-scooter to get to and from school, said Scott Howat, the district’s chief communications officer.
As of May, the district enrolled about 178,000 students.
Some school board members said the district should ban the vehicles — or limit their use to those with a driver’s license. They also worried new rules that must be enforced could be burdensome to school staff and costly to the school district by necessitating more bike racks.
Board Member Alicia Farrant said e-bikes worry her as she’s seen students riding them through stop signs and red lights. She suggested an “all-out ban” on school property.
“These are huge concerns. I don’t know that a little video is going to really fix the problem,” Farrant said.
Board Member Melissa Byrd said OCPS doesn’t need to burden school staff with e-bike permitting. A ban makes more sense, she said.
“We have nearly 200,000 students that attend our schools. If we can do something to make our community safer, I believe a ban on micro-mobility devices coming to and from school is a way to do that,” Byrd said.
Read more Orange County’s tourist-tax record stretches to 14 months
But board member Angie Gallo said regulating the vehicles is more a “city and county” issue, since most accidents and fatalities happen off campus and after school hours.
“I’m not against banning them on our campuses, I just think we’re putting a Band-Aid on a bigger issue,” Gallo said.
OCPS’s proposed policy changes would add restrictions on the types of e-bikes allowed on campuses, prohibiting “class 3” e-bikes that can go up to 30 miles per hour and e-bikes that have been modified to exceed the manufacturer’s speed limits. Some e-bikes can be modified to exceed 40 miles per hour.
The district’s proposal would also ban students from charging or riding their e-bikes and e-scooters on school property.
Orange County’s government, tackling the same issue, is considering mandating helmets for riders 16 and younger and requiring riders to slow down when approaching pedestrians. The county could also allow sheriff’s deputies to impound the vehicles of offenders. Commissioners want new rules in place before the new school year starts in August.
At a May meeting, county commissioners discussed safety and micro-mobility vehicles and watched a video of students leaving Windermere High School on e-bikes and scooters, with the teenagers flooding into a street filled with cars. Officials said some students fail to wear helmets, weave in and out of traffic and drive at dangerously high speeds.
This spring, state lawmakers passed a bill to require e-bike and e-scooter riders slow down around pedestrians and established a state task force to review risks, policy gaps and enforcement challenges. But Gov. Ron DeSantis vetoed the bill, citing an unwanted need for surveillance technology to enforce the speed limit.
The school board will discuss the issue again in an upcoming meeting, Chair Teresa Jacobs said. It’s not clear when it might vote on any changes or if they might be in place before classes resume Aug. 11.
Read more Man, 82, accused of setting fire to his ex after ending 42-year relationship