The Santa Barbara Unified School District is rolling out a new e-bike policy to make sure students know the rules of the road before they bring their bikes to school. 

It’s clear that e-bike safety is a big concern, not just locally but nationally. One doesn’t have to spend too much time downtown, or along any other busy corridor, before hearing an e-bike zipping past and seeing the cyclist speed down the road.

At certain schools, students now will have to watch a series of videos about riding safely, and get a parent’s signature confirming they understand road rules and safe behavior, before they register their bike through their school and get a permit that allows them to ride it to campus.

Marianne Hew, the Santa Barbara school district’s assistant superintendent of student and family services, said they’ve seen more and more students with e-bikes in recent years as they’ve become more popular and accessible.

“People are now giving e-bikes, which some are very powerful and very fast, to very young students who don’t have driver’s licenses, who don’t necessarily think through all of the steps or all of the consequences because they’re still developing adolescent brains,” Hew said.

The program enforces the expectations that students will:

• Wear a properly fitted helmet when riding to and from school.
• Ride without passengers and keep both wheels on the ground.
• Walk e-bikes on campus unless a designated riding route is provided.
• Follow designated campus entry, exit and parking requirements.
• Ride an e-bike that is legal for the student’s age under California law.

Additionally, Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes are permitted for students, while Class 3 e-bikes may be operated only by riders age 16 or older. Electric motorcycles, dirt bikes and modified devices are not permitted on district property, as they don’t meet the legal definition of an e-bike. 

Hew said the policy varies by school site based on specific school needs. The expanded policy has been implemented at all of the junior high schools, along with Dos Pueblos High School, San Marcos High School, Alta Vista and La Cuesta High School. 

While Santa Barbara High School is focusing on e-bike education, the school isn’t requiring a permit for now because of the fact that most students walk or drive to campus, Hew said.

The educational videos include the basic rules of the road for cyclists, safety protocols, and information about liability if someone is hit by a cyclist. 

Hew said the district is also in talks with the Santa Barbara Police Department and the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office about hosting educational workshops for students and families.

Some schools have had assemblies with law enforcement officers in the past to go over safe riding and rules of the road.

The expanded policy comes after La Colina Junior High and Adams Elementary School expanded their own e-bike protocols last year. 

La Colina Principal Jennifer Foster said the school has been aware of the community’s concern about children and teens on e-bikes around town, and they wanted to do their part to help.

With the school off Highway 192 on Foothill Road, Foster said most students get to campus by riding through the neighborhood and entering through the back gates.

“We can’t control which families buy their kids bikes and what they tell them to do,” Foster said, “but it is our responsibility to make sure as much as we can that they’re being safe.”

If the school receives a report of a student riding unsafely, staff members try to find the student based on their description and talk to them about safe riding, said Tobias Emory, La Colina dean of students.

“There was an explosion two, three years ago on e-bikes, but there wasn’t necessarily the toolkit given along with the explosion,” Emory said. “We want to start the process now, so our kids can at least have some safe riding skills, and realize that they are out there and vulnerable, and this is a type of vehicle.”

La Colina’s permitting program doesn’t just apply to e-bikes, but regular bikes as well as scooters and skateboards.

At that campus, permitted bikes have a small sticker with a number so school employees know to whom it belongs. Other schools have implemented larger stickers, or something akin to small license plates for their permits. 

If students violate the policy by not wearing a helmet, riding on campus or other issues, Foster said they will store the bike and call a parent or guardian, who is required to pick it up.

As Santa Barbara Unified students learn more about e-bike safety, Hew said the hope is that safety information, and safe behavior, will spread across the community.

“As we start to see more of our students becoming interested, as those education campaigns are continuing in our schools, we do think that that will just raise the level of awareness across the community,” Hew said.

Even after students get the e-bike permit for school, Hew encourages parents to have ongoing conversations with their children around bike safety. 

“This isn’t one conversation; it’s an ongoing one,” Hew said. “Especially as students get older, become more independent, start to travel farther distances — all of that certainly means their conversations with their students should be ongoing.”