On April 21, 2026, the Newport-Mesa Unified School District (NMUSD) voted 6-1 to adopt Board Policy 5142.04 to govern student E-Bike use. Trustee Ashley Anderson, consistent with her prior anti-public safety votes and behaviors, was the sole “no” vote.
The policy prohibits K-8th graders from riding E-Bikes to/from campus. On the other hand, high school students may ride E-Bikes to school subject to certain conditions. First, only Class 1 E-Bikes, which require the rider to pedal and top out at 20 mph, are permitted. Second, all students riding E-Bikes must attend a district-provided E-Bike safety training program and obtain a sticker to leave their bikes on campus.
With this week’s vote, NMUSD became the first school district in California to create an E-Bike policy. NMUSD deserves credit for taking action to protect our students and communities.
Just last week, a middle schooler hit and critically injured an 81-year-old Vietnam veteran while the boy was doing illegal wheelies on an E-Motorcycle in Lake Forest. The Orange County District Attorney announced charges against the boy’s mother for allowing her son to ride the E-Motorcycle in this manner.
On February 24, Newport Beach PD reported 46 E-Bike traffic stops during enforcement operations around an NMUSD high school and middle school. They issued 51 citations for California Vehicle Code and local E-Bike ordinance violations. Incredibly, NBPD arrested two youths for felony evading!
Before voting against the E-Bike policy, Trustee Anderson voted against the consent calendar in its entirety. The consent calendar is a way for the board to vote on several routine matters at once rather than having to individually call each matter for a vote and discussion. The consent calendar on April 21, 2026 was no different.
This procedure saves time, and board members always have the option of pulling individual items for further discussion. Instead of following this procedure, Trustee Anderson voted against the entire calendar (start at 2:43:10)!
She cited her “continued concern” regarding the OC GRIP gang prevention program, which was on the consent calendar.
In order to make her stand against gang prevention, Trustee Anderson voted against dozens of routine items, including special education-related services.
Later in the evening, Trustee Anderson recorded the sole vote against the E-Bike policy. According to Trustee Anderson, addressing E-Bike student safety concerns is a “city issue” and “not our lane” as a school district. She argued that limiting E-Bikes to high schoolers was tantamount to removing student access to school programs and called buses, non-powered bikes, and other modes of transportation inadequate.
The NMUSD school board deserves credit for creating an E-Bike policy to enhance safety for our students and community. We had to start somewhere, and hopefully NMUSD’s policy will spur other state and local officials to take appropriate action.
Student safety should be the highest priority for our school board officials. Thankfully, almost all of NMUSD’s school board members recognize this.
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