AZ school bans bikes
05-24-12, 07:53 AM
#1
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AZ school bans bikes
"[parent] is not happy that his two daughters can no longer ride their bikes to school after the board of Edu-Prize charter school in Gilbert decided to ban bicycles because of safety concerns."
"[School official] said in an e-mail. "The streets are marked with bike paths but are not wide enough for children or parents to safely use them.""
""Now, we have to spend more money on gas and wait in a long line to drop our kids off at school," [parent] said. "It's a waste of time and a waste of fuel when we live half-a-mile away.""
https://www.azcentral.com/community/g...ans-bikes.html
"[School official] said in an e-mail. "The streets are marked with bike paths but are not wide enough for children or parents to safely use them.""
""Now, we have to spend more money on gas and wait in a long line to drop our kids off at school," [parent] said. "It's a waste of time and a waste of fuel when we live half-a-mile away.""
https://www.azcentral.com/community/g...ans-bikes.html
05-24-12, 08:11 AM
#2
Banned
"Bicycles, skateboards, scooters, Rollerblades, skates, etc., should not be used as a means of transportation to and from school."
Carlson is among a group of parents who live near the school, near Baseline and Cooper roads, who are irritated by the policy change.
He said he would often ride his bike with his fourth- and sixth-grade daughters to get some exercise. Now, that won't be allowed.
Duncan said there are plenty of opportunities on campus for students to get exercise. The school has a fitness trail, fitness-focused physical-education programs offered weekly and a variety of conditioning opportunities, such as climbing walls, she said.
Duncan said the school has worked with parents to provide options, including carpools, for those students who were riding bikes to school.
Carlson is among a group of parents who live near the school, near Baseline and Cooper roads, who are irritated by the policy change.
He said he would often ride his bike with his fourth- and sixth-grade daughters to get some exercise. Now, that won't be allowed.
Duncan said there are plenty of opportunities on campus for students to get exercise. The school has a fitness trail, fitness-focused physical-education programs offered weekly and a variety of conditioning opportunities, such as climbing walls, she said.
Duncan said the school has worked with parents to provide options, including carpools, for those students who were riding bikes to school.
Looks like the AZ. school is setting up another generation that drives to work, to the gym, and hauls their bikes to the trail head or local parks.
05-24-12, 08:26 AM
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Once again a school board has shown that being reasonably intelligent is not a prerequisite to being on a school board.
05-24-12, 08:33 AM
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They need https://www.saferoutesinfo.org/
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05-24-12, 08:38 AM
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Boy... school administrators must be afraid of bicycles or something! First the 60 HS seniors that get suspended for riding their bikes to school as a senior prank with the Mayor of the town and a police escort in tow, and now this.
Perhaps if the school held a 'bike rodeo' with parents and provided instruction on basic bike safety they might be able to turn this bad publicity into something meaningful.
Perhaps if the school held a 'bike rodeo' with parents and provided instruction on basic bike safety they might be able to turn this bad publicity into something meaningful.
05-24-12, 09:12 AM
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They need https://www.saferoutesinfo.org/
"Gilbert offers a Safe Routes to School program, and 16 elementary and junior- high schools partner with the town to encourage students to walk or ride bikes to school, said Ken Maruyama, the program's coordinator."
"When schools have partnered with the town through the National Center for Safe Routes to School, Maruyama said, it has helped thwart safety concerns by finding the funding to build new sidewalks, install electronic driver-feedback speed-limit signs and install crosswalks. "I'm sure we can develop a partnership to address the safety issues (at Edu-Prize), but we can't do much unless the school is interested in working with us,"
05-24-12, 09:46 AM
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it's a charter school, a lot less accountability. Guessing there was some whining by teachers about having to slow down for cyclists.
05-24-12, 09:49 AM
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So I wonder what the school will do if neither parent, or a single parent cannot drive due to a DUI or medical condition?
05-24-12, 09:53 AM
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05-24-12, 10:00 AM
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Perhaps. Charter schools in AZ are state funded public schools. https://www.azed.gov/charter-schools/
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05-24-12, 10:04 AM
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The elementaty school I went to had a rule that only 3rd graders and above could ride a bike to school. So one day when I was a 2nd grader I rode my bike to the school boundary and put it in the bushes. A teacher saw me and reported me. My parents had to come and I got in trouble.
Government schools are run by idiots.
Government schools are run by idiots.
05-24-12, 10:06 AM
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I hated school. It was a miserable experience from beginning to end. The only thing that made it bearable was a bike ride at the start of the day and another at the end.
The board is probably worried about liability. Schools can be held accountable for the safety of their students from the moment they leave home to the time they get back to the nest.
The board is probably worried about liability. Schools can be held accountable for the safety of their students from the moment they leave home to the time they get back to the nest.
05-24-12, 10:12 AM
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You can in certain states, but what is really happening here is the banning of bikes at the school... so supposedly you could ride a bike almost all the way to the school, then walk across the street into the schoolyard and still be legit. Of course likely there is no safe place to park a bike.
The problem is that the unsafe traffic conditions that these administrators and some parents cite at schools are due to parents driving their kids to school in the first place. If most kids walked or biked to school that unsafe traffic situation would go away. (not to mention the improved health of the kids themselves... )
The mentality displayed by that school official just leads to a further downward spiral.
The problem is that the unsafe traffic conditions that these administrators and some parents cite at schools are due to parents driving their kids to school in the first place. If most kids walked or biked to school that unsafe traffic situation would go away. (not to mention the improved health of the kids themselves... )
The mentality displayed by that school official just leads to a further downward spiral.
05-24-12, 10:14 AM
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More likely either parents or teachers had to slow down and merely blamed bikes, while the real problem was the crush of motorized traffic.
05-24-12, 10:17 AM
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I hated school. It was a miserable experience from beginning to end. The only thing that made it bearable was a bike ride at the start of the day and another at the end.
The board is probably worried about liability. Schools can be held accountable for the safety of their students from the moment they leave home to the time they get back to the nest.
The board is probably worried about liability. Schools can be held accountable for the safety of their students from the moment they leave home to the time they get back to the nest.
05-24-12, 11:47 AM
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And of course they list bicycles along with other "toys"... oy vey.
This could very well have a positive influence though, because generally when kids are told something is verboten, they want to do it all the more.
And AFAIK, (correct me if I'm wrong about this) but you cannot ban bicycles from a road if that road is the only route through an area. They tried banning bicycles on the property where I live, but too many residents countered that they use their bikes as transportation, and it was impossible to leave home without riding the bike. They dropped that rule rather quickly, thank goodness. Kind of hard to push a trike or carry it a quarter mile, especially if it has a trailer attached.
This could very well have a positive influence though, because generally when kids are told something is verboten, they want to do it all the more.
And AFAIK, (correct me if I'm wrong about this) but you cannot ban bicycles from a road if that road is the only route through an area. They tried banning bicycles on the property where I live, but too many residents countered that they use their bikes as transportation, and it was impossible to leave home without riding the bike. They dropped that rule rather quickly, thank goodness. Kind of hard to push a trike or carry it a quarter mile, especially if it has a trailer attached.
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05-24-12, 12:21 PM
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"[parent] is not happy that his two daughters can no longer ride their bikes to school after the board of Edu-Prize charter school in Gilbert decided to ban bicycles because of safety concerns."
"[School official] said in an e-mail. "The streets are marked with bike paths but are not wide enough for children or parents to safely use them.""
""Now, we have to spend more money on gas and wait in a long line to drop our kids off at school," [parent] said. "It's a waste of time and a waste of fuel when we live half-a-mile away.""
https://www.azcentral.com/community/g...ans-bikes.html
"[School official] said in an e-mail. "The streets are marked with bike paths but are not wide enough for children or parents to safely use them.""
""Now, we have to spend more money on gas and wait in a long line to drop our kids off at school," [parent] said. "It's a waste of time and a waste of fuel when we live half-a-mile away.""
https://www.azcentral.com/community/g...ans-bikes.html
05-24-12, 12:26 PM
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Good question. I can see them banning bikes from school property, but not from the public roads. Maybe they went to the same school that that principal who suspended a bunch of seniors for "daring" to ride their bikes to school (with police escort AND the town's mayor in attendance) on the last day of school.
Agreed.
05-24-12, 12:29 PM
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Boy... school administrators must be afraid of bicycles or something! First the 60 HS seniors that get suspended for riding their bikes to school as a senior prank with the Mayor of the town and a police escort in tow, and now this.
Perhaps if the school held a 'bike rodeo' with parents and provided instruction on basic bike safety they might be able to turn this bad publicity into something meaningful.
Perhaps if the school held a 'bike rodeo' with parents and provided instruction on basic bike safety they might be able to turn this bad publicity into something meaningful.
05-24-12, 12:33 PM
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The problem is that the unsafe traffic conditions that these administrators and some parents cite at schools are due to parents driving their kids to school in the first place. If most kids walked or biked to school that unsafe traffic situation would go away. (not to mention the improved health of the kids themselves... )
The mentality displayed by that school official just leads to a further downward spiral.
The mentality displayed by that school official just leads to a further downward spiral.
They are also teaching their kids that they are not self-reliant. This lesson is a deep disservice, in my view.
I wish I had saved the URL, but I read somewhere that of the kids who walk or cycle to school in the US and get hit by cars, half of them are hit by cars driven by parents driving their kids to school. Arghhh!
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05-24-12, 01:19 PM
#22
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"Children also have crossed major streets in "violation of our policy," she said."
So it appears that they want to control what goes on outside of school property.
05-24-12, 01:29 PM
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I saw that too, then how are parents who are driving their "little bundles of joy" to school suppose to get their kids to school without crossing those same "major streets?"
05-24-12, 01:30 PM
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If it were me, I'd just keep riding with my kids to school and dare them to do anything about it, reminding them that the school has ZERO jurisdiction over the public roadways and that they will face a class action lawsuit if they ban a legal vehicle from their school grounds while allowing others (that just happen to carry a WAY higher fatality and injury rate for their students).
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05-24-12, 01:43 PM
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good point. I live about a half mile from the local middle school. The traffic is normally pretty sedate, but watch out in the morning just before school starts. Getting there by bike is moderately problematic even though there are large neighborhoods surrounding the school. They are putting in lights and right turn lanes, basically for the 15 minutes in the morning before school starts, and to a lesser degree, the half hour or so after school lets out. Wonder how many miles of bike paths that could have funded.