COLLEGE TOWN, FL (WTXL) — Leon County Schools approved a new policy requiring students to dismount e-bikes, e-scooters, and other personal transportation devices at the property line. District leaders say the goal is safer arrivals and departures for all students.
WATCH FULL REPORT BELOW:
The Leon County School Board approved a new policy requiring students to dismount e-bikes, e-scooters, and other personal transportation devices before entering school property.
The board approved the rule just hours before students returned to class Wednesday. District leaders say the change is about preventing accidents during some of the busiest times of the school day.
School Board Member Laurie Lawson Cox said the decision was driven by concern over rising injury rates.
"It was more anecdotal data, just reaching out to the emergency room; I mean, people had talked to doctors, and they've seen an exponential increase in injuries because of these e-bikes and e-scooters. And just watching students throughout the summer in the neighborhood, parents and teachers and administrators were concerned, so that was one reason we expedited the policy to go into effect," Cox said.
The policy applies to all personal transportation devices. Superintendent Rocky Hanna said students are still welcome to ride to school — they just have to walk once they reach campus.
"You can still bring an e-bike, e-scooter, a skateboard, roller skates. But when you get to our property line, dismount, you walk into the security area, you go to class, go to school, you come out, you walk back past our property line, and then you get on whatever device or vehicle it is and go home," Hanna said.
A district representative said the policy was prompted in part by the growing use of e-bikes and e-scooters among students.
"The district decided to go ahead and implement this because of the rising popularity of e-bicycles and e-scooters to provide clarity to our school communities," the representative said.
The policy comes as schools across Florida tighten rules surrounding e-bikes and e-scooters. District leaders say the goal is not to stop students from using alternative transportation, but to make sure everyone gets to class safely.
Not everyone is on board with the new rule. Lincoln High senior Cohen Wilson said he was unaware of the policy when he rode his bike to school on the first day of his senior year and questioned how it would be enforced.
"So we rode our bikes to school for the first day of senior year, and I didn't even hear anything about it until you told me about it, and honestly, it just feels unnecessary. I didn't even know it was a thing, and you know my one question would be like, how are they gonna monitor this, like, to enforce it? Since we made it a rule, how are we gonna enforce it? Just gonna be more work for our schools and things like that. I just think it's very unnecessary," Wilson said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.
