E-bikes are banned from all Del Mar Union School District campuses starting this school year, Superintendent Marisa Janicek announced at the board's Wednesday, Aug. 19, meeting.

Janicek said during her superintendent's report that e-bikes will not be permitted on any DMUSD campus for the 2026-27 school year, which began Monday, Aug. 10. The ban applies district-wide. It came as an operational decision in Janicek's report, not as a separately agendized vote, and the minutes do not detail enforcement specifics.

The meeting also produced the first two declared candidates for the November 2026 school board election. Trustees Katherine Fitzpatrick and Doug Rafner each announced they will seek re-election.

Fitzpatrick tied her candidacy to a policy goal: bringing Transitional Kindergarten to DMUSD. The district does not currently offer the state-funded TK program, instead running a fee-based preschool through its Early Childhood Development Center. DMUSD's enrollment timeline for 2026-27 lists kindergarten but makes no mention of TK.

That gap is significant. Under California Education Code Section 48000, districts that offer kindergarten are required to also offer TK. However, the San Diego County Office of Education notes that some basic aid districts, funded primarily through local property taxes rather than state funds, have taken the position that they cannot provide TK. Whether DMUSD has formally claimed that exemption is unclear.

Statewide, TK enrolled roughly 177,000 four-year-olds in 2024-25, according to EdSurge. The 2026-27 year marks the first time every four-year-old in California was guaranteed a TK spot.

Beyond the election announcements, the board unanimously approved a 12-item consent calendar that included a tolling agreement with Erickson-Hall Construction Co. and the district's Proposition 28 Arts and Music in Schools annual report for 2025-26. Students from Del Mar Heights School led the Pledge of Allegiance and presented to the board about their first day of school.

Trustee Bill Porter dedicated his remarks to the memory of a teacher at Ashley Falls School who recently passed away. The teacher was not named in the minutes. Porter also marked Janicek's one-year anniversary as superintendent; she joined the district in August 2025.

Board President Alan Kholos presided over the meeting, which ran from 5:45 p.m. to 7:11 p.m. with all five trustees present. The next regular board meeting is Wednesday, Sept. 9, at 5:45 p.m. at the district office, 11232 El Camino Real, San Diego.