New Bike/Walk Safety Education Requirements for Elementary and Middle School Students

Last spring, the Minnesota legislature passed a new law requiring that districts provide walk/bike safety education within the first three weeks of school. All kindergarten through 8th grade students should receive pedestrian safety education, and all 4th to 8th graders should receive bicycle safety education. To meet the requirement for this school year, SPPS distributed walk and bike safety information via Peachjar to all schools with K-8 students on September 20.

To learn more about this, please visit www.spps.org/Page/47045. Educators interested in teaching walk/bike safety in their students will also find videos and links to other resources on this page.

MnDOT will develop new materials and resources for the ‘24-’25 school year to help districts meet this requirement going forward, and those will be shared with schools when they are available. 

Whether they are heading to school or getting around their neighborhoods, walking and biking are great ways for kids to be active and travel independently. Bicycle and pedestrian education helps students develop the skills they need to do so safely. This education also complements SPPS’s existing Safe Routes to School programming that happens throughout the school year, including in-school bike education with the SPPS bike fleet, training teachers in the Walk! Bike! Fun! curriculum,  and Walk, Bike and Roll to School Day celebrations. 

If you have questions, please contact Sarah Stewart, Safe Routes to School Lead, sarah.stewart@spps.org.