FOUNTAIN VALLEY : Reaction Mixed on Cyclist Helmet Rule

Lisa Connally strapped on her white bicycle helmet and didn’t think twice about it.

“It’s safety,” the sixth-grader at Harry C. Fulton Middle School said this week. “I mean, who knows. What if you get in a big giant crash and you get bruised for life? I’d rather wear a helmet than get hurt for life.”

For students in the Fountain Valley School District who ride bikes to school, wearing a helmet is now mandatory.

A school district policy, approved by the Board of Trustees last October, went into effect Jan. 6. It requires bicycle-riding students in grades three through eight to wear helmets to and from school.

Rainy weather last week kept most students off their bikes. But on Monday, during a break in the storm, a number of students pedaled to school. Most wore helmets, but a few refused to.

The district policy allows parents to sign a waiver if they don’t want to have their children wear a helmet. Children who have waivers must place a yellow sticker on their bikes.

Veronica Vasquez, 11, a sixth-grader, said she has a waiver. “I didn’t want to wear a helmet,” she said. “I don’t like them.” She said helmets are “nerdy.”

Tomi Huffman, 12, a seventh-grader, said, “Helmets stink because they look ugly.” She won’t wear one either, she said.

Nicole Dotts, 13, an eighth-grader, said she’d rather not wear her new black helmet. “But my dad’s making me,” she said.

Her classmate Matt Womack, 13, also doesn’t want to wear a helmet “because you feel like you’ve got a bowl on your head,” he said. “They look stupid.”

But Matt doesn’t have a waiver. “I’ll wear it down the street, then take it off down the block,” he said.

Despite some opposition, district officials say they will enforce the helmet policy for safety’s sake.

“Our goal is that the child realizes the importance of wearing the bicycle helmet and why,” said Fern Zahlen Williams, the district’s director of student services.

Since November, school administrators and teachers have been encouraging students to wear helmets. They’ve had assemblies on bicycle safety, shown videos, and brought in police officers to talk with students. Some campuses began reward systems for those students who started wearing helmets before the policy went into effect. A letter went home to parents in December about the policy and to solicit support.

It is estimated that among the district’s three middle schools and eight elementary schools, up to 1,000 students cycle to school, according to the district. For example, Samuel E. Talbert Middle School has about 250 bicycle riders, but elementary schools may only have about 40 bicyclists, officials said.

As of Friday, 59 parents districtwide had signed waivers so their children wouldn’t have to wear helmets, Zahlen Williams said. However, school principals said waivers are continuing to be brought in.

Fulton Principal Catherine Follett said she had received 31 requests for waivers from parents Monday, compared to 18 she received by Friday. Talbert Principal Carl Dane said Tuesday he had received 40 waivers so far.

Principals said they plan to do more parent and student education on safety to get more riders to wear helmets.

Schools, such as Fulton, also plan to use PTA volunteers at posts near campuses to help enforce the helmet policy.

Board of Trustees President Larry Crandall said instituting the policy was the right choice. A similar policy has also been adopted by the Irvine Unified School District. “If we can save injuries and the life of any one kid in the district, it’s worthwhile,” Crandall said.