By SUZANNE MARINO

Staff Writer

NORTHFIELD – There is a new set of rules governing whatever type of wheels students choose for the journey to and from the Northfield Community School, and according to district officials, the rules will be enforced.

Whether it is a bicycle, a skateboard, or even a unicycle, the rules adopted Monday, Dec. 17 at the Board of Education meeting apply.

The school board found it had to revisit the district policy for students riding bicycles to school, even though it was updated several years ago to include skateboards. At that time, students were notified that riding a skateboard to school was permitted as long as the same rules that applied to riding a bicycle were followed.

That worked until this year, when a student chose a unicycle as his preferred mode of transportation. There was nothing in the policy manual addressing the use of a unicycle or dictating where the unicycle was or was not permitted.

The policy committee introduced a revised policy governing student use of wheeled transportation to the rest of the board at a meeting Nov. 19. It was passed unanimously on second reading at this week’s meeting.

The policy states that riding any type of wheeled personal transportation to school is a privilege, and students who do not follow school policy will lose that privilege. Riding any form of wheeled transportation, be it a bicycle, skateboard or unicycle, on school property is prohibited. Once on school property, students and staff are required to walk any wheeled mode of transportation.

“It is a safety issue for the students on bikes, etc., as it is for the other students who are walking,” board president Deborah Levitt said at the November meeting.

According to the policy, all forms of wheeled transportation must be secured on the bike racks provided on the school grounds. Students must wear helmets as required by state law. The policy also spells out that school property is not limited to just the area immediately surrounding the school and parking lot, but also the playing fields and the playground.

According to the policy, students found in violation of the rules will be prohibited from bringing their wheels on school property.