Warsaw's Driver Education Program To Continue
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Warsaw's driver education program will continue for at least another year, according to a decision made Wednesday by the board of directors.
E-mails and fliers flew around the Warsaw area earlier this month and in late August, warning parents that because of dire financial problems and lack of cooperation from Warsaw Community Schools, the Warsaw Community Driver Education Co-Op Inc. would have to shut down.
That rumor was incorrect and premature.
In a meeting Wednesday with WCS superintendent Dr. David McGuire, the WCDEC board agreed to continue operations for at least another year.
The co-op does have financial problems, though, and the board members and McGuire hope they can work out the details during this next year.
"I think we shouldn't close our doors before everything is determined," said board member Keith Reinholt. "We want everything to be right ourselves, ... so we need to know and then make a plan."
Reactions began in July, when McGuire notified the WCDEC board that Warsaw Community Schools was going to cut the $50,000 in support WCS had been giving the co-op.
That agreement expires Dec. 31, and WCS can't afford to renew it, McGuire said.
"If it's down to between having teachers in classrooms and offering driver training, driver training isn't part of our core mission," McGuire said, citing the almost $1 million cut in funding this year from the state to Warsaw schools. "Tough choices have to be made."
The co-op is a separate not-for-profit organization formed approximately 21 years ago. While it offers driver education to Warsaw students and some adults, it is mostly self-funded and is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)3 organization - which means donations to the co-op are tax deductible.
Terry Frank, a retired Warsaw teacher, is director of the co-op, and current and retired teachers serve as driver education instructors.
Along with the WCS decision to cut the $50,000 contribution came a new procedure for registering and insuring the cars used in the program.
Previously, the cars were included under the WCS fleet insurance policy. Because they were registered to WCS, they qualified for municipal license plates at no cost, Frank said.
Now the co-op must insure its own cars, which, Frank said, will cost between $3,750 and $4,750 per year. It also may have to pay for its own license plates, and that's where the uncertainty lies.
According to Jon Radosevich, Warsaw License Branch manager, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles in Indianapolis claims that as a separate entity, the co-op must register the cars in its own name. That means, since the cars would no longer be registered to the school corporation and can no longer use municipal plates, the co-op should put passenger plates on the cars it uses for the program. That would be a considerable additional, and continual, expense: Frank estimates a yearly cost of more than $3,000 for license plates for the average of seven vehicles the program uses, plus titling fees for each car.
"Yes, there will be a significant cost increase with the plates," Radosevich said.
However, he said, the BMV also told him that 95 percent of driver education programs in the state buy their license plates through the schools.
To save money and to give the co-op time to find out once and for all what it is supposed to do about license plates, McGuire offered the co-op board Wednesday a one-year extension on the co-op buying license plates in WCS' name.
"I want to do things appropriately - that's my job," McGuire said. "I also want to resolve how your being a separate entity affects both sides."
McGuire also addressed the concern that WCS is attempting to take over the driver ed program.
"I want to assure you that I have no desire to pull driver education in-house," he told the co-op board. "I would very much prefer that you guys continue to do what you're doing."
Steve Petro, of Petro Brothers car dealerships, said he would be willing to work with the co-op on leasing or "selling" the co-op late model cars at reasonable costs. For example, Frank said, because the co-op would sell the car back to the dealership after two or three months' use, he is hoping local dealers will sell the co-op a car for $1 and then buy it back later for the same price.
Driver education is offered through Warsaw Community High School, and students receive a half-credit for passing the program. While it was once required for high schools to offer driver ed in Indiana, McGuire said, the state's new performance-based accreditation does not require it. [[In-content Ad]]
Warsaw's driver education program will continue for at least another year, according to a decision made Wednesday by the board of directors.
E-mails and fliers flew around the Warsaw area earlier this month and in late August, warning parents that because of dire financial problems and lack of cooperation from Warsaw Community Schools, the Warsaw Community Driver Education Co-Op Inc. would have to shut down.
That rumor was incorrect and premature.
In a meeting Wednesday with WCS superintendent Dr. David McGuire, the WCDEC board agreed to continue operations for at least another year.
The co-op does have financial problems, though, and the board members and McGuire hope they can work out the details during this next year.
"I think we shouldn't close our doors before everything is determined," said board member Keith Reinholt. "We want everything to be right ourselves, ... so we need to know and then make a plan."
Reactions began in July, when McGuire notified the WCDEC board that Warsaw Community Schools was going to cut the $50,000 in support WCS had been giving the co-op.
That agreement expires Dec. 31, and WCS can't afford to renew it, McGuire said.
"If it's down to between having teachers in classrooms and offering driver training, driver training isn't part of our core mission," McGuire said, citing the almost $1 million cut in funding this year from the state to Warsaw schools. "Tough choices have to be made."
The co-op is a separate not-for-profit organization formed approximately 21 years ago. While it offers driver education to Warsaw students and some adults, it is mostly self-funded and is registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)3 organization - which means donations to the co-op are tax deductible.
Terry Frank, a retired Warsaw teacher, is director of the co-op, and current and retired teachers serve as driver education instructors.
Along with the WCS decision to cut the $50,000 contribution came a new procedure for registering and insuring the cars used in the program.
Previously, the cars were included under the WCS fleet insurance policy. Because they were registered to WCS, they qualified for municipal license plates at no cost, Frank said.
Now the co-op must insure its own cars, which, Frank said, will cost between $3,750 and $4,750 per year. It also may have to pay for its own license plates, and that's where the uncertainty lies.
According to Jon Radosevich, Warsaw License Branch manager, the Bureau of Motor Vehicles in Indianapolis claims that as a separate entity, the co-op must register the cars in its own name. That means, since the cars would no longer be registered to the school corporation and can no longer use municipal plates, the co-op should put passenger plates on the cars it uses for the program. That would be a considerable additional, and continual, expense: Frank estimates a yearly cost of more than $3,000 for license plates for the average of seven vehicles the program uses, plus titling fees for each car.
"Yes, there will be a significant cost increase with the plates," Radosevich said.
However, he said, the BMV also told him that 95 percent of driver education programs in the state buy their license plates through the schools.
To save money and to give the co-op time to find out once and for all what it is supposed to do about license plates, McGuire offered the co-op board Wednesday a one-year extension on the co-op buying license plates in WCS' name.
"I want to do things appropriately - that's my job," McGuire said. "I also want to resolve how your being a separate entity affects both sides."
McGuire also addressed the concern that WCS is attempting to take over the driver ed program.
"I want to assure you that I have no desire to pull driver education in-house," he told the co-op board. "I would very much prefer that you guys continue to do what you're doing."
Steve Petro, of Petro Brothers car dealerships, said he would be willing to work with the co-op on leasing or "selling" the co-op late model cars at reasonable costs. For example, Frank said, because the co-op would sell the car back to the dealership after two or three months' use, he is hoping local dealers will sell the co-op a car for $1 and then buy it back later for the same price.
Driver education is offered through Warsaw Community High School, and students receive a half-credit for passing the program. While it was once required for high schools to offer driver ed in Indiana, McGuire said, the state's new performance-based accreditation does not require it. [[In-content Ad]]