Delays in Driver’s Ed Set Back Students

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The student driver car that is used for the driving portion of driver’s education. Students must complete 30 hours of classroom learning and 6 hours of driving in order to take the test to receive a permit. (Photo courtesy of Erin Darnell.)

Drivers Education, provided by Jordan Driving School through Wake County, is experiencing more delays after recovering from the shutdown. Wake County Drivers Education was shut down from August 17-October 5, causing students to wait 12-14 weeks before completing the driving portion of driver’s education.

In the spring of 2016, Jordan Driving School claimed to have caught up with the backed up students and were prepared to start calling the students in summer driving classes by early fall. However, it is now January and many summer students are still waiting to complete the driving portion of driver’s education.

Ashleigh Doyle is Leesville teacher as well as driving instructor for Jordan Driving School. “Currently, we are moving a little slower than expected, but we have put some things in place to speed [the process] up, and hopefully we will be back on track soon,” said Doyle.

Leesville students are feeling the repercussions of the delay — Taylor White is a sophomore who took the classroom portion of driver’s education in August. “The delay in drivers ed has impacted my life because I can’t get a job now because most jobs require you to have a car and to transport yourself. …Also, because a lot of clubs and activities at the school require you to be there immediately after school, and if your parents can’t drive you, you can’t participate,” said White.

Even when students are called, Jordan Driving School experiences many difficulties in scheduling students for the driving portion of their drivers education, putting the system even further behind. “The hardest part of scheduling students to drive is the balance between priorities. Kids are involved in so many extracurriculars these days, that, often times once they are called to drive, they are already invested and deeply involved in other things such as the school play or an athletic season…so often times it is a balancing act once we get to the driving portion to figure out exactly which days students are able to drive and with which partner,” said Doyle.

With the backups, some students have even resorted to paying extra for private driving lessons in order to get their permits on time. Luckily for the students on the waiting list, students who took the classroom portion in the summer should expect to be called by February.

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