Budget cuts at the school district mean the end of school-sponsored classroom and behind-the-wheel driver’s education, and those who might have been counting on Community Education to come through with a replacement are out of luck: they will not offer a program, either.

Friday, March 08, 2002

Budget cuts at the school district mean the end of school-sponsored classroom and behind-the-wheel driver’s education, and those who might have been counting on Community Education to come through with a replacement are out of luck: they will not offer a program, either.

At its last meeting, the Community Ed board decided to table a proposal on driver’s education they had been discussing, said director Heidi Cunningham.

The board is not sure whether the district’s current driver’s education license would automatically transfer to Community Education. Applying for a license would be complicated, costly and time-consuming, said Cunningham.

Another reason for Community Ed’s hesitation is the availability of private driving schools in Albert Lea.

&uot;We are open to doing it, but there’s a lot of extra work involved. We would have to see a definite need,&uot; Cunningham said.

Cunningham said that she and the Community Ed board would be looking at whether the private companies would be able to cover the community’s needs, and what level of satisfaction families have with the private schools.

There will be some differences between the program the district had been offering, and what private operators will be – mainly in how the instructors are licensed.

According to Ron Frandle, current coordinator of the district’s program, because they work with youth, public school programs are required to hire teachers who have a separate driver’s education certificate. Qualifying for that kind of license requires just under 200 hours of college level study. A commercial instructor is not required to be a teacher, and only has to complete 40 hours of training before they can obtain a certificate.

A few local options are available in Albert Lea. Mid-Southern Driving School is a driving school based out of Fairmont that is currently operating in Albert Lea. There is also ABC Driving School, located in Austin.

Another school may come into existence later this month, as a couple of former instructors from another driving school are making the arrangements to open their own driving school. More details about their plans will be available after they have obtained their license.

What is still unknown at this point is how many students the private schools will be able to handle each year.

No matter what happens, things will be different. In the past families were used to signing up through the school, said Cunningham.

&uot;It was easy. It was convenient. All of a sudden there’s going to be a change, and it’s going to take people a while to get used to it,&uot; said Cunningham.

Drivers’ Education status: The driver’s education program offered by the Albert Lea School District has been been cancelled as part of the budget cuts instituted by the school board last December. This means that no new students will be accepted into the program. There will be no new classroom sessions, and no summer driving range at Southwest Middle School.

In order to hold on to the credit for classroom instruction that has already been completed, currently enrolled students will need to complete their behind-the-wheel instruction by June 14. Those students should call Ron Frandle at 379-5058 as soon as possible to schedule a behind-the-wheel driving time.