The wheels on the Wellington High School drivers education car keep on turning — at least for the time being.
Last Thursday during the February Board of Education meeting, board members voted 6-0 to raise the drivers education fee $25 over last year.
For students in the district, the cost is now $150, out of district is $200 for the 2009-2010 school year. The raise is due to budget cuts that will persist into the foreseeable future. At the moment it is too tough to tell just what the ultimate fate is for the drivers education program.
"State aid for drivers ed has been reduced accordingly for the last two or three years," USD 353 Superintendent Rick Weiss said at the board meeting. "We’re getting to that point where if it’s not going to be self-sufficient it’s going to be very difficult to provide it."
Weiss said the district may arrive at a dead end where Drivers Education could not continue.
“Hopefully that [$150] will be enough," Weiss said. "I don’t know what the future holds for this and according to how much we are cut for next year then one of the alternatives that some schools have been using is an online course for your high school.”
Wellington's superintendent said those kinds of programs are around $75 per student but even those rates could rise.
Students would work on classroom material on their own throughout the course of the year, but instructors would still be used for the driving element of the process. Board members briefly discussed and speculated why the drivers education funding got taken away from that program, the culprit being state leadership.
“That’s a fee we all pay, and I think it’s a good fee,” said board Vice President David Peck. “… It should go to drivers education.”
The district will still get some reimbursement, the rise in cost is meant to offset what has been cut out.
Specific dates for the district drivers education program have not been set. During last year, the district had 89 students enrolled in the drivers education program. Wiess said at the meeting that if the program had to be axed, the savings wouldn't be very big but every little bit helps.
"Every dollar really counts," Weiss said. "And these kinds of programs are the first things that will suffer.”
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The wheels on the Wellington High School drivers education car keep on turning — at least for the time being.
Last Thursday during the February Board of Education meeting, board members voted 6-0 to raise the drivers education fee $25 over last year.
For students in the district, the cost is now $150, out of district is $200 for the 2009-2010 school year. The raise is due to budget cuts that will persist into the foreseeable future. At the moment it is too tough to tell just what the ultimate fate is for the drivers education program.
"State aid for drivers ed has been reduced accordingly for the last two or three years," USD 353 Superintendent Rick Weiss said at the board meeting. "We’re getting to that point where if it’s not going to be self-sufficient it’s going to be very difficult to provide it."
Weiss said the district may arrive at a dead end where Drivers Education could not continue.
“Hopefully that [$150] will be enough," Weiss said. "I don’t know what the future holds for this and according to how much we are cut for next year then one of the alternatives that some schools have been using is an online course for your high school.”
Wellington's superintendent said those kinds of programs are around $75 per student but even those rates could rise.
Students would work on classroom material on their own throughout the course of the year, but instructors would still be used for the driving element of the process. Board members briefly discussed and speculated why the drivers education funding got taken away from that program, the culprit being state leadership.
“That’s a fee we all pay, and I think it’s a good fee,” said board Vice President David Peck. “… It should go to drivers education.”
The district will still get some reimbursement, the rise in cost is meant to offset what has been cut out.
Specific dates for the district drivers education program have not been set. During last year, the district had 89 students enrolled in the drivers education program. Wiess said at the meeting that if the program had to be axed, the savings wouldn't be very big but every little bit helps.
"Every dollar really counts," Weiss said. "And these kinds of programs are the first things that will suffer.”
