ACTION ALERT! NMUSD Set to Vote on Massive E-Bike and Bicycle Restrictions — Your Voice Needed Now
The Newport-Mesa Unified School District’s revised e-bike policy is here - and it is sweeping. The Board will vote on the new policy TOMORROW, Tuesday, April 21 at 6:00pm. Here’s what you need to know.
Newport-Mesa Unified School District is moving toward a vote on a new policy that would dramatically restrict how students can ride and park bicycles and e-bikes on school campuses.
Here's what you need to know, and how to make your voice heard.
What's in the Policy
The proposed Policy 5142.04 would apply as follows:
Elementary and Middle School: E-bikes would be completely prohibited from being parked on or even near campuses. The policy's stated goal is safety, but it would also sweep up the responsible majority of riders to address the misconduct of a small few.
High School: Students in grades 9–12 may ride a Class 1 e-bike, but Class 2 and Class 3 e-bikes are flatly banned. That means even students with valid California driver's licenses — kids who have passed the state's tests to operate a 3,500-pound car at highway speeds — are being told they cannot ride a Class 2 e-bike to school. MAKE IT MAKE SENSE!
All Students, All Grades: Every family that wants to bring even a regular bicycle to campus would be required to sign an "Assumption of Risk Agreement,” or liability waiver, and register their bikes with their schools. Worse still, the NMUSD Board didn’t include the agreement in the agenda report — so we don’t even know what will be in it! This white-knuckle approach to a completely normal and safe activity is the opposite of the District's stated commitment to encouraging students to bike to school.
Why This Matters Beyond E-Bikes
NMUSD's own policies commit the District to making it safer and easier for students to walk and bike to school. A recent City of Costa Mesa survey found that roughly 40% of Ensign Intermediate School students ride bicycles to school. Those numbers reflect years of effort by families, the city, and the District itself to build a culture of active transportation. This policy risks unraveling that progress in one vote.
The e-bike safety concerns motivating this policy are real, but they are largely driven by illegal e-motorcycles being misidentified as e-bikes. Research from the SJSU Mineta Transportation Institute found that only 12% of two-wheeled electric devices surveyed at certain California schools were actually legal electric bicycles. The answer to that problem is targeted enforcement against illegal vehicles, not a broad ban on legal ones that so many families depend on for critical mobility needs.
What We're Asking the Board to Do
CMABS has submitted a formal letter urging the Board to withdraw this policy and start over, and engage in genuine consultation with city leaders, law enforcement, transportation planners, parents, and students before any new policy is adopted. We agree that e-bike regulation, especially for the youngest students, might make sense. But this is almost the worst way to go about it.
How You Can Help — Right Now
The most powerful thing you can do is show up and speak at the meeting. Public comment from real families, real students, and real community members carries weight that letters alone cannot. If you cannot attend in person, an email to the board is your next best option.
Visit cmabs.org/nmusd-ebike-ban for everything you need: meeting details, talking points, and a direct way to contact the board. It takes minutes and it matters.
Students bike to school in this community at rates that most cities can only dream of. Let's not let that be taken away by a knee-jerk, emotionally driven policy that will do far more harm than good.
That’s all for now!
