Leon County Schools students using modes of transportation such as e-bikes and e-scooters this year will need to slow their roll once they reach school grounds.
The Leon County School Board is changing up a policy on the “Use of Personal Transportation Devices,” which would require students to dismount and walk their transportation devices on to school board property – a measure that comes as similar rules have been instituted across the state with safety concerns rising when it comes to electric vehicles.
“On board property, the operator of a personal transportation device will dismount the device and walk the device to the appropriate storage area,” the amended policy proposal states. “Failure to comply may subject the student to disciplinary action.”
While the devices have been allowed, there were no previous restrictions on students riding them on school property.
The topic was discussed during an Aug. 10 school agenda review meeting ahead of the board’s Aug. 11 meeting where members will vote on the policy change. It was also reviewed at the board’s July meeting.
There was no opposition from the board, and it would go into effect for the school year that begins Wednesday if approved. It is unclear what strategy the board will use to efficiently bring the new rule to the attention of students and parents.
“I know that we can’t control how students get to school,” LCS board member Laurie Lawson Cox said during the Monday meeting, “but what we’re going to clarify is that as soon as they get on school board property, they have to get off of that electric scooter or e-bike and walk it through the school campus.”
In the policy, personal transportation devices are defined as bicycles, scooters, skateboards, hoverboards, golf carts and low-speed vehicles, whether powered manually by an operator or powered by mechanical means – including gas engines or electric motors. E-bikes are equipped with an electric motor that assists the rider when pedaling.
As electric bikes and scooters become an increasingly common way for young people to get around, injuries tied to the devices are climbing at an alarming rate.
New research from Truveta, a health data and analytics firm supported by a coalition of 30 U.S. health systems, analyzed over 12,000 emergency room visits nationwide. The findings revealed that injury rates associated with e-bikes and e-scooters among children and adolescents surged 7.5-fold between January 2023 and May 2026, an increase compared to the rates seen in adults. Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare has also seen a spike in injuries from scrapes and lacerations to more serious injuries like skull fractures, traumatic brain injuries and abdominal injuries.
While the proposed change to the LCS policy adds language that prohibits the use of personal transportation devices on all school board property, it is not a result of state legislation.
But school districts across the state have new rules as well – including Orange County in Central Florida, where elementary and middle school students will no longer be allowed to bring e-bikes or e-scooters onto campus, according to a CBS News 6 article. In Volusia County, students riding e-bikes and e-scooters to school in the county’s district must complete a safety course.
LCS Superintendent Rocky Hanna says modes of transportation for students – including minor students who don’t have a driver’s license – have “certainly changed, especially over the last three or four years with all of the electric bikes that are in use.”
“We have to find a balance of ways to keep kids and their properties safe while still allowing them access to our schools by these alternative means of transportation,” Hanna told the Tallahassee Democrat. “Whether it’s a regular bike, a skateboard, a scooter, an electric scooter or an electric bike, they can ride that to and from home. But once they reach our property line, they’ll need to dismount it and walk it to its place to be secured on campus. And then in the afternoon, they’ll repeat the process when they’re leaving.”
Hanna said the speed by which kids are able to use e-bikes and the dangers they can present is a safety concern. He doesn’t think the school district will get to the point of completely restricting the usage of the devices on school grounds, but at the same time, he says that’s a decision lawmakers would have to make.
“Legally, I think that’s more of a question for legislators,” he said. “That resides outside of our school district. Our school district is gonna abide by the law, and if the law allows these young 10, 11, 12-year-old kids to access transportation vehicles that take them speeds of 30, 40 and 50 miles per hour, so be it.”
“We can’t prohibit them from using them,” he added, “but we can certainly control their use while they’re on our property.”
The board is set to meet at 6 p.m. Aug. 11 at the Aquilina Howell Center on West Pensacola Street to take up the amended policy proposal, among other items.
Tarah Jean can be reached at tjean@tallahassee.com. Follow her on X: @tarahjean_.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: As injuries spike, School Board setting rules on e-bikes, e-scooters
Reporting by Tarah Jean, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tarah Jean, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
