ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The first day of school arrived Monday for Orange County Public Schools students, but new transportation rules are creating headaches for families trying to get kids to class safely.
A district-wide ban on e-bikes and e-scooters for elementary and middle school students took effect immediately, while high schoolers must now have a learner’s permit and follow strict guidelines to ride. The policy comes as seven school closures and summer rezoning left some families without bus service and facing dangerous walking routes.
When Channel 9 Eyewitness News asked one Timbercreek High student if he knew about the e-bike ban, he simply replied, “No.”
Another student said he now has just 30 days to obtain his learner’s permit to continue riding legally.
“I think it’s bad because a lot of kids use the ebike to get to school because their parents go to work,” a third Timbercreek High student said.
The superintendent says most parents support the ban, which was prompted by safety concerns including 41 injury incidents since December. However, law enforcement will not enforce the rule. Instead, violations will be handled through the Code of Student Conduct starting Sept. 8 after a grace period. Students will receive warnings first, but repeated violations could result in lost privileges.
For families already impacted by rezoning, the ban removes what many considered their only safe transportation option. Parent Amanda Grace Pozo says seven school closures forced her neighbors into two-mile walks along roads with no sidewalks or crosswalks.
“There’s no sidewalks, so they’re expecting these children, these young kids... Number two. You can see how many cars are at this intersection that are coming back and forth. There’s no crosswalks for any of these children,” Pozo said.
OCPS says nearly 1,100 students gained bus eligibility through rezoning, even as roughly 900 lost it because they now live within two miles of school. Under state law, if a walking route is officially deemed hazardous by both the district and county, buses must be provided until the danger is fixed. Parents are still pushing for those reviews.
Final bus routes and transportation information are available on the OCPS website.
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