School Zones, New Laws, Safer Kids

In Superintendent Jhone Ebert’s end-of-2025 episode of Destination District: A CCSD Podcast, she discusses how the passage of Assembly Bill 6 during the Special Session of the Nevada Legislature will enhance school zone safety in Nevada.

What’s new: CCSD’s collaboration with local and state leaders and police will result in tangible on-the-ground changes:

• This legislation doubles the fines for traffic violations in school zones, including speeding, U-turns, and passing. 
• It also gives cities and the county more authority to control school zone traffic flashing lights so that lights can flash when there are shortened school days, evening events, etc. 

Superintendent Ebert also talks with the CCSD Police Department and Safe Routes to Schools about the top causes behind collisions and ways to prevent them. Students also share their perspectives as pedestrians and new drivers.

Subscribe, share this with a parent or driver on your route, and leave a review with one change you’ll make to keep school zones safer.

Transcript

Winter Break Reminder And Safety Context

SPEAKER_03 0:02

As we all take a moment to rest, relax, and recover during the winter break, it's important to remember that come January 5th, our school zones will be busy once again with students walking and riding to and from school. In this episode, we will talk about a school safety bill that came out of the special legislative session and that was recently signed into law by Governor Joe Lombardo, and that is Assembly Bill 6. We'll also discuss ways that the district is supporting safer school zones through additional enforcement and educating students and our entire community through our Safe Routes to School program. I'm Superintendent Joan Ebert, and this is the Destination District Podcast. Welcome back to the Destination District, a Clark County School District podcast. Thank you to all of our returning listeners. And if this is your first time listening, we're excited to have you. As of December 8th, 2025, CCSD Police and local police department partners have recorded 206 reports of juveniles 18 or younger involved in traffic collisions during school days between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. The number of juveniles involved in collisions have increased significantly in the 25-26 school year for several reasons. First, jurisdictions throughout the county are doing a better job of sharing information. Second, we know that nationally and here in Nevada, we're seeing an increase in accidents involving e-bikes and e-scooters. And then third, just on this short list, we're also seeing an increase in the number of incidents when students are distracted or did not follow our traffic laws. Just recently, and not too far from where we are recording at the Vegas PBS Podcasting Studio, I was able to join Governor Joe Lombardo as he signed Assembly Bill 6 into law at Lewis E. Rowe Elementary School.

SPEAKER_00 2:03

Today we get to be ceremonial, right? We accomplished great tasks, ability to come here, and it's going to make a difference. I truly believe it's going to make a difference because quite often, you know, legislation, unintended consequences or not, they hinder our ability to change and act quickly. And this gives us the ability to address the unintended consequences of our engineering, you know, and our enforcement when we're dealing with people with bad intentions. And so the mention of it is the doubling of fines. This is this is for the public consumption. The doubling of fines and the doubling of demerits go along with the status of your driver's license in that space. And you're saying, well, doubling of fines of what? Well, speeding, illegal U-turns, overtaking, passing, inappropriate behavior within a concerned emergent environment for our kids to be safe.

How AB6 Was Built With Local Partners

SPEAKER_03 2:57

As you just heard from the governor, this is a topic that concerns all stakeholders in the state of Nevada. Here to discuss AB6 and how it supports safer school communities in CCSD is Dr. Brad Keating, Assistant Superintendent, Community Partnerships and Government Relations. Dr. Keating, welcome back to the Destination District Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 3:20

Happy to be here. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_03 3:22

So excited. So you have done a lot of work. And you know, I would really love it if you would start by giving us a general overview of how Assembly Bill 6 was crafted and what the role CCSD played in its creation.

SPEAKER_01 3:39

Thank you for the question, Superintendent. So Assembly Bill 6 was crafted in collaboration with a number of partners. CCSD worked with Clark County and a working group that included community partners, district police, trustees. And that group's recommendations really directly informed the language that we see in Assembly Bill 6 today, ensuring that the legislation was not only practical, it was responsive, and that it was grounded in on-the-ground safety needs of what our police and our enforcement officers are seeing every day. So we worked in close uh partnership with Clark County in shaping that legislation. And we as a district really appreciated the opportunity to present on the bill and really share local data as you just mentioned and real-world experiences from what's happening in the Clark County School District, which helped lawmakers understand the urgency and the true scope of the issue and why it was an emergency measure at the legislature.

SPEAKER_03 4:29

Have we as a school district ever? My understanding is no, but I want to validate, you know, we led the effort with Clark County as a county entity, the Clark County School District, and then all of the municipalities. So we have Henderson, North Las Vegas, Metro, Boulder City was also involved. We have Mesquite. Has that ever working group around traffic? Have we ever had a working group around traffic?

SPEAKER_01 4:54

No, this is the first time that there's ever been a safety task force and working group of all local jurisdictions coming together. I think to your point that you mentioned just briefly a second ago, talking about our government partners doing a better job tracking the data, understanding the need, that created that convening and the emergency by us, by the local partners, by the governor to make sure that we were handling the issue immediately and addressing it so our kiddos can get safe to school and come home safe to our parents every day.

SPEAKER_03 5:23

That's great. For the specifics of Assembly Bill Six, what can you share with us so that our audience is informed?

Three Pillars Of AB6 Implementation

SPEAKER_01 5:29

Yeah, I think we're really excited about where Assembly Bill Six landed at the legislative session. There's three key components that I would say. Number one, it's that we're able to be more responsive with our school zone design. So our communities will be able to adjust the boundaries of the school zones. We're able to implement extended hours, change the signage or the flashers that you see out and about based on the actual student travel pattern. So if you're taking your kiddo to an open house that's late at night and it's dark, our schools will be able to work with our community partners to ensure that the flashers are on during that time to make sure our kids are safe. Same thing with sports and athletics. Enhancing the crossing infrastructure. So working together with the local uh government partners that we can add or improve crosswalks. We can add installation of pedestrian safety features. We can do better signage in those areas, especially in neighborhoods that are experiencing growth and increased traffic. We know there's construction all over the valley. The local government will have a lot more control of helping us ensure our kids are safe as they come in and out.

What Comes Next And 2027 Study

SPEAKER_03 6:27

That's wonderful. Moving forward, so those are the basics of the bill, um, Assembly Bill Six, and thank you again to the legislature and the governors for signing it during a special session. Normally these types of bills don't make it into a special session, but health and safety, I know everyone cares about. So, what's the next phase moving forward? How are we going to continue to engage our stakeholders, make sure that our schools are aware, and that we're providing our legislature 2027 is just right around the corner. What other things do we see in this future that we need to tackle?

SPEAKER_01 6:59

So I think Assembly Bill Six was a great first step at tackling the issues that we need to for school safety. One other note at the legislature, they were able to approve a resolution that they will study over the next year, the impact of e-bikes, e-scooters, what additional traffic laws are needed as they relate to school zone safety. So they will bring those recommendations forward in the 2027 session. But most important, and we mentioned it a few moments ago, is that the continuation of the CCSD, the School Traffic Safety Working Group. So in partnership with our local leaders and our municipalities, really driving the work, following the data, making those data-driven decisions, and then bringing that information to the 2027 session so that we can make additional recommendations to the legislature to keep our kids safe.

SPEAKER_03 7:40

Great. And our entire community will have the opportunity to participate in that process as well. Thank you so much, Dr. Keating, for joining us today and providing us the background that we all needed on Assembly Bill 6 and school safety, traffic safety around our schools. Thank you.

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Thank you.

Police And Safe Routes Joint Education

SPEAKER_03 8:00

Aside from the changes around our school zones, and because of the passing of Assembly Bill 6, both the Clark County School District Police Department and the team at our amazing safe route to schools have proactively, together, they've proactively addressed ways to educate students and the public about best practices for safe school zones. Joining me today are Lieutenant Brian Zink of the CCSD Police Department. Jennifer Grooby, coordinator for our CCSD Safe Route to Schools, and Camilla and Emily, who are seniors, bless you. I'm excited to learn more from you, both of you. They're seniors at Las Vegas High School. Thank you all for being here today. Thank you. You're welcome. You're welcome. Making sure everybody's uh got their mics going. We're ready. Are you ready? Lieutenant Zink, I'm gonna put you on the spot first.

SPEAKER_02 8:55

Good morning. Thanks for having us.

Top Causes: Speed, Distraction, Unknown Laws

SPEAKER_03 8:56

Lieutenant Zinc, what factors contribute to school zone incidents? And what are ways that the CCSD police department have worked to address safety around our school zones?

SPEAKER_02 9:09

That's an excellent question. Thank you for that. I think basically one of the most one of the biggest problems we have is just lack of knowledge of our laws here in the state of Nevada. As we know, Las Vegas is a city where every people move here from across the country, from around the world. And I think a lot of people assume that the laws that they followed back home when they got their driver's license are the same laws here, but they're not. We have a lot of fantastic laws on the books that are designed to make our school zone safety. And basically, people don't know the law and they're not following the laws. Some of the biggest contributing factors to a lot of the increase in accidents are just speed. People are driving way too fast through our school zones. We all know that when you drive fast, your reaction time to slow down isn't as as good as if you're if you're falling the speed limit. And then also people driving through the school zones distracted. That could be looking at a phone while they're driving or looking for their child, you know, not scanning as they're entering a school zone. We see that really leads to a lot of the issues that we have. But I definitely think the lack of knowledge of our laws that are designed to keep our kids safe is one of the biggest problems.

SPEAKER_03 10:05

Well, thank you for being on the destination district to help people understand what the laws are here in Nevada and how we will all make sure that they follow them. Thank you very much. Jennifer, you've been with Safe Route to Schools for how long now?

SPEAKER_06 10:18

Oh, this is going on my third year.

Safe Routes Six Es And Community Support

SPEAKER_03 10:20

Third year. So what does your department do to support safety around our schools?

SPEAKER_06 10:24

Well, first of all, thank you, Superintendent Ebert, for the opportunity to join you today. I really appreciate the chance to share more about what Safe Routes does for the district and for our community. So, yeah, the Safe Routes to School Department, we have a one main major mission, right? Our goal is just safety. But so we promote, encourage, and advocate for safe and active transportation while supporting schools and families through what we call our six E's approach. And that involves engagement, equity, engineering, encouragement, education, and evaluation. Through this comprehensive approach, we work to reduce traffic congestion around our school campuses, improving overall safety. And these efforts benefit not only students and families, but they also benefit our surrounding neighborhoods. As we collaborate closely with municipalities like our CCSD department, partnering agencies to identify and address concerns in around school sites while keeping traffic education and prevention at the forefront in everything we do. Great. Kind of winded.

E‑Bikes, E‑Scooters, And Illegal E‑Motorcycles

SPEAKER_03 11:17

Yeah, no, you're fine. So uh we've been tracking the data, right? I've been on the job for eight months now. And, you know, last reported over 200 incidents. But we see a spike especially around e-bikes, e-scooters, those. So how are the two of you working together to educate parents and to make sure that we have those safe modes of transportation in and around our schools?

SPEAKER_02 11:44

Uh well, one of the ways that we work together is that we partner up on certain events around schools, ride to school safe days, walk to school safe days. We'll come out and help support safe routes so that the people who are the students and the families who are learning on how to do it correctly can do it safely. We'll block intersections, we'll have our motors team or our patrol officers, our canine units will go out and support just to make it a safe environment so that they can learn how to do it and they can get out in the community and practice. As a police department, we use our social media, we work with our other community partners to get the message out to parents about what's safe, what's not safe, and definitely what's not legal for kids to be out riding on the roads. And you can see by watching the news that it's a problem across the county, it's a problem across the country just because there was such an onslaught of these devices, almost as if they came out of nowhere. E-bikes kind of got big after COVID, then the scooters came in and now the electric motorcycles. And basically it comes down to people don't know what they're giving their kids, how powerful these devices can be, how unsafe they can be if they're not, if they're if their kids aren't taught how to properly use them. And then if the kids are just out not following the laws, how bad it can be. So we're really trying to work hard with everybody in the community to spread the word and get that message out that, you know, especially going into the holidays, we're always a little apprehensive about what it's going to be like December 26th.

Student Voices On Crosswalk And Driver Safety

SPEAKER_03 12:58

Right. They parents see other kids on it and, you know, don't want to leave their child out, want to get a gift. Is there an age uh restriction on e-scooters or e-bikes in Nevada, in southern Nevada?

SPEAKER_02 13:12

Not really. Because you can, as long as you're safely doing it in your neighborhood or your community, it's fine. And it's a mode of transportation. It's like there's no age limit for a kid to ride a bicycle or to get on a scooter. But if you're operating something that's illegal like an electric motorcycle, then you have to have a motorcycle license to ride it. But these devices aren't meant to be ridden on the roadway, so they don't have all the same safety features that a motorcycle would have. And so that's where the really big problem is, is that parents think, well, it's a little toy, it's fun. It is if it's used correctly as a recreational vehicle out in the desert or vacant lot or, you know, in the cul-de-sac under parental guidance. But once kids take it out on the streets, it switches over to being an illegal device, which shouldn't be on the roadways.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

Yeah. Thank you. So, Camilla and Emily, thank you again for being here. You were able to participate in some of the videos that will be used to educate our students and families and the public as a whole. What interested you in participating in this project? And as students, why is this an important topic? Like, why are we covering it here today?

SPEAKER_05 14:15

Thank you. I was interested in participating in this project because school zone safety directly affects students like me every day. I see how busy and sometimes unsafe school zones can be, especially during drop-off and pickup times. As a student, this topic is important to me because we should feel safe walking, biking, and being driven to from and school. Being a part of these videos allowed me to help raise awareness and encourage people to be more careful around schools so accidents could be prevented.

SPEAKER_03 14:43

Great. Emily, what do you think? What do you have to add?

Practical Tips: Awareness And Defensive Walking

SPEAKER_04 14:46

Well, as someone who drives to and from school, I was not aware of the laws when it comes to crosswalk safety before this project. Camilla and I can be voices to kids our age to bring light to this important topic. Our friends were also a part of this project, and we learned about these things as both drivers and students who actively walk around and to school.

SPEAKER_03 15:06

Are there any additional ways? So through this project, you were working with other friends, and I got to see part of when it looks like fun. You learned, which is great, and you want your friends to learn. Is there another mode besides these videos that you would recommend? I mean, we're doing destination district podcasts, but are there other things that people can do to, as Lieutenant Sink was saying, amplify what people do not know or amplify what we want them to know?

SPEAKER_05 15:34

I want students to know when they walk or drive or even bike to school is to always be aware, to not always wear headphones or be attached to your phone, to always be aware of your surroundings because you never know what a car could be following you, or if someone is driving under the influence, to always just be aware and have eye contact when you're crossing the street.

SPEAKER_03 15:54

Yeah, so it's a defensive piece, right? We're we're making sure because we can't control, I mean, I'd like to be able to control, but we can't control if someone's driving under the influence. But we can be aware of our surroundings that if something is not safe, that you all will be safe. Thank you. So to clarify, Lieutenant, what devices are illegal for school zones and walking paths?

SPEAKER_02 16:19

That would definitely be the electric motorcycles. Um, and then some of the parks are also county parks are regulating the speed that e-bikes and e-scooters are driven in the parks if you're sharing the the bike paths. So it's be cognizant, they have signage up which tell you what the speed limit is and what can happen if you if you're caught doing those. But definitely e-motorcycles are not street legal. Um, you can't put your eight-year-old kid on a little electric motorcycle and send him off to school because that's that's totally illegal.

SPEAKER_03 16:47

Great. Thank you. And Jennifer, what are the best ways for our families to learn more about the best practices related to walking and riding to and from schools? What other services does Safe Routes offer the entire team? Go ahead and fill our brains with what we need to know.

Helmets And Right Gear For High Speeds

SPEAKER_06 17:04

That's a lot. Okay. Well, families are encouraged to visit the Safe Routes of School website. That's the schoolsafety.ccsd.net, where they can find up-to-date guidance, safety tips, and educational materials on our resource page. We also encourage families to follow SafeRoutes on our social media platforms where we regularly share safety reminders, resources, and push through some safety campaigns. And then we rely heavily on our schools to play an important part in reinforcing our safety messages through their newsletters, announcements, and direct parent communications. We're just preparing to launch a youth-led safety initiative, and I'm so glad that Camille and Emily are here today to join us to put the power into the students' hands to share the messaging of school safety. The Safe Routes School team, we really provided comprehensive support to schools and students anywhere from kindergarten to high school aid. Our programs include customized safety presentations, hands-on bike and safety education, and direct student supports like bike repairs, distribution of helmets, lights. We provide on a broader scope active transportation choices. And we also help out schools on site, completing walk audits and supporting administration and developing safer and more effective arrival and dismissal procedures. Just a few of the wonderful programs that we have to offer.

SPEAKER_03 18:15

Right. And our team most recently was specifically Kirsten Sear, our one of our chiefs, was on Fox 5, and there was conversation about helmets as well. And that regular bike helmets really are not sufficient when students are on some sort of e-device. Correct. Because of the speed with which they actually really need to have almost something similar to a motorcycle helmet at that point. Is that what you too?

SPEAKER_06 18:42

Yeah, absolutely. So when considering riding or purchasing an e-device, know the speeds that they go are extremely high. You know, some of them are over 20, 30, 40 miles an hour. Uh bike helmets are not designed for crashes at that speed. So yes, they need a proper helmet that's actually designed for motorcycles.

SPEAKER_02 19:02

Yeah, that's that's definitely something that we we constantly see when we're driving in and around our school zones, is that not enough students are wearing helmets on bicycles, e-bikes, scooters, or the or the electric motorcycles. And so we're always encouraging our parents to be good role models. Because it's it's it's sometimes frustrating when you'll see a family out riding bicycles together and the the kids have helmets on, but mom and dad don't. Just kind of role model the type of behavior you want your kids to to do. So definitely, you know, this the basic safety equipment is is imperative on our roadways because I can attest, and I'm sure Jennifer can attest too, as avid cyclists, if when you fall off your bike and you hit any part of your body, it hurts pretty bad. Um, and definitely if you're not wearing the right type of helmet, it can it can, you know, be life changing. So if anything, parents, please get your kids the right safety equipment that they need to be out on our roadways. Because again, your child may not be the cause of the accident, but if they're involved in an accident, you want them to be as protected as possible. Yeah, great.

Final Reminders And Community Call

SPEAKER_04 19:52

Emily, Camilla, anything else you'd like to add? I just think that it's important like to bring more light to this topic because. Because a lot of like students who are also drivers don't know about these things and think that these rules don't apply to them because they are students. But if anything, we have to be more aware of these rules.

SPEAKER_03 20:14

Great. Well, I want to thank all four of you for being on the show. The two seniors, I wish you well. We'll have a conversation offline on where you're gonna, what you're gonna do next. But congratulations and thank you all for being on Destination District today. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 20:30

Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 20:31

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 20:31

Thank you to all of our guests today. I wish everyone a happy and safe new year. And I ask our entire community to partner with us to keep our students safe on the way to and from school in 2026 and beyond. Please keep in mind these rules of the road. Listen, watch, obey our crossing guards. Number two, do not make U-turns in school zones. Third, do not double park in school zones or park in crosswalks. Follow our speed limits in our school zones and review what modes of transportation are legally available for student use. Observing these simple rules could prevent a tragedy. This has been the Destination District, a CCSD podcast recorded at Vegas PBS Podcasting Studio. For more information about CCSD or to listen to previous episodes, visit CCSD.net. Remember, the destination is better when we get there together. Have a great day.