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Comment by TrueGeek | Hacker News Reader

It really depends on where you live in the US. When I moved from Los Angeles to the Atlanta suburbs my daughter rode her bike to elementary school like she always had. The school principal called and told me it wasn't allowed. I offered to ride with her since I work from home and it wouldn't be a problem but she wouldn't budge. I offered to fund raise for bike racks, setup bike trains, and give safety courses. I tried for years and years, through three kids, and never got permission. My kids are all grown now except my oldest who does indeed ride an e-bike to high school.

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What does she mean, "not allowed"? She's not the boss of your daughter. Couldn't you just tell the principal she can't forbid your daughter from riding a bicycle?

She said if my daughter showed up by bike she wouldn’t be allowed into the building. If they saw the bike locked up to the fence they’d cut the lock and impound it. She was apologetic and said it was a safety issue because everyone else drove and it’s not safe for students to be around cars and busses. I pointed out that everyone else drove because they weren’t allowing people to walk or ride their bikes. It was very frustrating. I was glad when we moved on to Jr High.

> She said if my daughter showed up by bike she wouldn’t be allowed into the building. If they saw the bike locked up to the fence they’d cut the lock and impound it.

I would try to record this conversation, and once I had the recording, warn the principal in a public letter that would be a criminal act and cause for a civil suit, and threaten to also take it to the local news media. Of course, if my daughter was willing to take up this fight.

Yeah, I was much younger then and much less self confident. If I had it to do over I'd escalate, like you suggest. Maybe get the super intendant involve. Another option would have been to find more parents that were interested and get some ground support.

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