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Warsaw's independent driver education program will come to an end this year, according to a notice given to the Warsaw school board Monday.
Terry Frank, director of the Warsaw Community Driver Education Co-op Inc., told the board the decision by Warsaw Community Schools in July to "drop six of nine areas of support" for the co-op was instrumental in the co-op's decision to close on Dec. 31.
Those areas of support include such things as use of office supplies, access to secretarial support, use of classroom and office facilities, etc.
In July, the school corporation notified Frank that WCS would no longer continue to contribute $50,000 to the co-op after Dec. 31.
Frank said since July he has researched costs of the program, and it would be prohibitive to ask parents to pay a higher price to make up for the difference in funding.
Several parents were present Monday and asked the board how students will take driver education if the co-op closes.
School superintendent Dr. David McGuire said he has asked Warsaw Community High School principal Dr. Jennifer Brumfield to "put together a program for WCHS that would be revenue- and cost-neutral," meaning the fee would cover the costs for instructors. He said he expects the cost to parents to be approximately $300 per student, "since that is what area schools also charge. That's assuming that no other entity comes forward and puts together a program for us."
Frank's announcement Monday contradicted a decision made just last month by the co-op board to continue services for at least another year. Following a Sept. 11 joint meeting of the board and McGuire, the board agreed to continue its programs for a year while researching ways to make up the difference in funding.
McGuire, in return, agreed to continue to register the driver education cars under the school corporation so the co-op could continue to purchase municipal license plates - a significant savings over purchasing passenger plates.
At the time, Frank said the plating problem was the critical issue in the co-op's decision to stay open. On Sept. 5, Frank said, "It's not the money aspect, it's their (the administration's) reluctance to pay for plates."
However, Monday night, when asked if the decision to close the program was based on the lack of the $50,000, Frank said, "Yes. ... The one year that you asked us to continue was based on plates only, and we can't continue to operate without the $50,000."
At the Sept. 11 meeting, McGuire told the co-op board, "I want to assure you that I have no desire to pull driver education in-house. I would very much prefer that you guys continue to do what you're doing."
Monday, McGuire repeated that sentiment.
"It was not our decision, it was their board's decision. Their board told me we would have all of next year to come up with a solution," he said.
Parent Stan Seiss asked if a driver education program would cost the school corporation less to operate than the co-op, and McGuire said, "It will cost the school corporation zero." He said many of the instructors are WCS employees, and the student fees should cover the program costs.
He said driver education is a valuable, quality program. "We will make sure the parents aren't faced with no driver education for their students," he said. "It is our intent to have a program in place by June."
