Johnston County students scheduled to begin driver’s education this summer will still get to take the course.
However, the school district is not scheduling future classes past Aug. 14.
While the state has historically helped school districts pay for driver’s education, lawmakers haven’t decided if they will fund the program going forward.
The House budget would continue state funding for driver’s ed, now taken by 120,000 high school students each year. The Senate budget ends the funding and moves driver’s ed to the state’s community colleges.
Last week, lawmakers approved a temporary budget to run state government until Aug. 14. But the spending measure includes no money for school districts to provide driver’s education.
Given the temporary state budget, Johnston County school officials said last week they will offer classes already scheduled this summer.
“It’s only fair to offer it to people whose classes we’ve already scheduled,” said Tracey Peedin Jones, the school system’s spokeswoman.
Driver’s education classes typically run all day during the summer, but some school systems are dropping the program because of the funding uncertainty.
As of last week, out of North Carolina’s 115 school districts, 43 had suspended driver’s education, and 30 hadn’t responded yet to a survey, said Reggie Flythe, driver education consultant for the state Department of Public Instruction. Guaranteed state funding ran out when the 2014-15 fiscal year ended June 30.
“You’re talking about a substantial amount of money to run the program in the summer,” Flythe said.
Districts such as Wake County, Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Charlotte-Mecklenburg are continuing to offer new classes over the summer.
Districts such as Guilford County are shutting down their programs. Other districts are serving only students who had started driver’s education before July 1.
Lawmakers at odds
It appears that lawmakers are still far apart on what to do with driver’s education.
House budget writers have criticized the Senate proposals to eliminate driver’s ed as a requirement for a learner’s permit and to cut off state funding.
“Which means it’s going to have to come from either some sort of private donation or out of the pockets of parents or young people taking the driver’s ed class,” said Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican who is chairman of the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee.
“They pretty much said continue the program and go find your own money,” Torbett said of Senate budget writers.
Rep. Grier Martin, a Wake County Democrat, said the Senate provision is “an unfunded mandate.”
Under North Carolina’s graduated licensing program for young drivers, driver’s education is mandatory for anyone younger than 18 who applies to get a learner’s permit. Students get 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours behind the wheel.
House and Senate leaders agreed a few years ago to stop diverting gas-tax money from the Department of Transportation to pay for other things, including driver’s education. They gradually cut funding and authorized local schools to collect a fee from students to help cover the cost of driver’s ed.
A new revenue source?
The House budget would let local schools continue charging a $65 fee for driver’s ed, and it would tap a new state revenue source to help pay for the classes: a motor vehicle registration late fee, worth $27 million a year.
North Carolina high schools should not stop teaching students how to drive, Torbett said.
“I think there’s nothing more important than having a young man or woman understand the rules of the road, how to properly operate a vehicle,” he said. “To me, that’s just as critical to their life as math and English and learning how to balance a checkbook.”
In the temporary budget adopted by the legislature, school districts are authorized to collect the $65 driver’s ed fee – but they are not assured of state funding to cover the rest of the cost.
‘Don’t have the money’
Though Johnston County will continue driver’s education through the summer, Peedin Jones said the $65 fee won’t cover the $380 it costs per teen to run the program.
“What if they don’t fund it?” Peedin Jones said. “We don’t have the money in the budget.”
Last month, the Johnston County Board of Education increased its driver’s education fee from $55 to $65 to help offset the proposed funding cut.
Each year, about 2,100 Johnston County teens take driver’s ed through the school system. The state has given Johnston County schools about $550,000 annually to run the program.
Nearly 200 students have signed up for classes this summer at the county’s eight high schools.
To take driver’s ed, students must be at least 14 and one-half years old and a high school student or rising ninth-grader. To sign up, students must attend a parent-student meeting to fill out paperwork.
Eligible students who haven’t signed up for a class this summer can still do so at a parent-student meeting on July 16. It’s for a July 20-29 course at Smithfield-Selma High. Johnston students also take a defensive-driving course, which is scheduled for July 30 for students in the SSS class.
The parent-student meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at the school.
After learning about the district’s decision to not schedule classes past Aug. 14, Mary McCann Straka-Miller said on Facebook, “That is so sad.”
Jason Niemiller, also on Facebook, wasn’t worried by the state funding. “Faster and better instruction through private (lessons),” he said. “I was never going to go through the school.”
Staff writer Nash Dunn contributed to this report.
However, the school district is not scheduling future classes past Aug. 14.
While the state has historically helped school districts pay for driver’s education, lawmakers haven’t decided if they will fund the program going forward.
The House budget would continue state funding for driver’s ed, now taken by 120,000 high school students each year. The Senate budget ends the funding and moves driver’s ed to the state’s community colleges.
Last week, lawmakers approved a temporary budget to run state government until Aug. 14. But the spending measure includes no money for school districts to provide driver’s education.
Given the temporary state budget, Johnston County school officials said last week they will offer classes already scheduled this summer.
“It’s only fair to offer it to people whose classes we’ve already scheduled,” said Tracey Peedin Jones, the school system’s spokeswoman.
Driver’s education classes typically run all day during the summer, but some school systems are dropping the program because of the funding uncertainty.
As of last week, out of North Carolina’s 115 school districts, 43 had suspended driver’s education, and 30 hadn’t responded yet to a survey, said Reggie Flythe, driver education consultant for the state Department of Public Instruction. Guaranteed state funding ran out when the 2014-15 fiscal year ended June 30.
“You’re talking about a substantial amount of money to run the program in the summer,” Flythe said.
Districts such as Wake County, Chapel Hill-Carrboro and Charlotte-Mecklenburg are continuing to offer new classes over the summer.
Districts such as Guilford County are shutting down their programs. Other districts are serving only students who had started driver’s education before July 1.
Lawmakers at odds
It appears that lawmakers are still far apart on what to do with driver’s education.
House budget writers have criticized the Senate proposals to eliminate driver’s ed as a requirement for a learner’s permit and to cut off state funding.
“Which means it’s going to have to come from either some sort of private donation or out of the pockets of parents or young people taking the driver’s ed class,” said Rep. John Torbett, a Gaston County Republican who is chairman of the House Transportation Appropriations Subcommittee.
“They pretty much said continue the program and go find your own money,” Torbett said of Senate budget writers.
Rep. Grier Martin, a Wake County Democrat, said the Senate provision is “an unfunded mandate.”
Under North Carolina’s graduated licensing program for young drivers, driver’s education is mandatory for anyone younger than 18 who applies to get a learner’s permit. Students get 30 hours of classroom instruction and six hours behind the wheel.
House and Senate leaders agreed a few years ago to stop diverting gas-tax money from the Department of Transportation to pay for other things, including driver’s education. They gradually cut funding and authorized local schools to collect a fee from students to help cover the cost of driver’s ed.
A new revenue source?
The House budget would let local schools continue charging a $65 fee for driver’s ed, and it would tap a new state revenue source to help pay for the classes: a motor vehicle registration late fee, worth $27 million a year.
North Carolina high schools should not stop teaching students how to drive, Torbett said.
“I think there’s nothing more important than having a young man or woman understand the rules of the road, how to properly operate a vehicle,” he said. “To me, that’s just as critical to their life as math and English and learning how to balance a checkbook.”
In the temporary budget adopted by the legislature, school districts are authorized to collect the $65 driver’s ed fee – but they are not assured of state funding to cover the rest of the cost.
‘Don’t have the money’
Though Johnston County will continue driver’s education through the summer, Peedin Jones said the $65 fee won’t cover the $380 it costs per teen to run the program.
“What if they don’t fund it?” Peedin Jones said. “We don’t have the money in the budget.”
Last month, the Johnston County Board of Education increased its driver’s education fee from $55 to $65 to help offset the proposed funding cut.
Each year, about 2,100 Johnston County teens take driver’s ed through the school system. The state has given Johnston County schools about $550,000 annually to run the program.
Nearly 200 students have signed up for classes this summer at the county’s eight high schools.
To take driver’s ed, students must be at least 14 and one-half years old and a high school student or rising ninth-grader. To sign up, students must attend a parent-student meeting to fill out paperwork.
Eligible students who haven’t signed up for a class this summer can still do so at a parent-student meeting on July 16. It’s for a July 20-29 course at Smithfield-Selma High. Johnston students also take a defensive-driving course, which is scheduled for July 30 for students in the SSS class.
The parent-student meeting is at 6:30 p.m. at the school.
After learning about the district’s decision to not schedule classes past Aug. 14, Mary McCann Straka-Miller said on Facebook, “That is so sad.”
Jason Niemiller, also on Facebook, wasn’t worried by the state funding. “Faster and better instruction through private (lessons),” he said. “I was never going to go through the school.”
Staff writer Nash Dunn contributed to this report.
No comments:
Post a Comment