A drop in the number of driving instructors and a rise in the number of teenagers is continuing to create a a three to five months wait for behind-the-wheel driving instruction in Wake schools.
The Wake County Public School System plans to open bidding later this spring for another contractor to help offer more behind-the-wheel training next school year. More driving instructors could help relieve the backlog of students that has piled up — and not diminished — since driver’s education was temporarily halted during Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
Other WRAL Top Stories
“There were wait times before the pandemic but they were I think what we would would view as much more reasonable,” Assistant Superintendent for Academic Affairs Drew Cook told the school board during committee meeting Tuesday. The ideal wait time is more like two to three months, he said.
The wait times are the worst at the district’s 25 largest high schools, where students typically wait three to five months for behind-the-wheel training.
Maureen Foust ended up looking for a private driver’s education program for her son, Lincoln. But even among private programs, many were already booked up, too.
“It takes a really long time to get in,” Foust said. “I know seniors who still can’t do driver’s ed, because there’s not enough spots for them to get in.”
The problem is the behind-the-wheel training. Students are more easily able to get the classroom part of driver’s education, where more students can fill classroom seats. But cars only have so many seats.
Board members supported the idea of trying to hire more drivers and suggested ways to train more people to become driving instructors. Board Member Cheryl Caulfield suggested working with more school staff, such as teachers, to getting their certification from the state Department of Motor Vehicles and trains during the summer for extra pay.
The school system typically uses one private contractor — Jordan Driving School — to do driver’s education but in 2022 hired another company temporarily to help reduce backlog. That didn’t get it back to normal, and work since then hasn’t made a dent largely because the number of driving instructors isn’t going up, Cook said.
Devin Tanner, the district’s senior administrator over driver’s education, is working with Jordan Driving School on getting more driving instructors trained.
Contractor Jordan Driving School has 73 driving instructors, including 17 who are coming online now, Tanner said. The company had 56 instructors working in the schools in August. Both numbers are still down from its pre-pandemic totals of about 85 to 90 drivers.
The company expects another 16 driving instructors to come online during the summer, who are currently in training, Tanner said.
The backlog has caused some families to go outside the school district for private instruction.
"Probably more than 50 percent of our customers have reached out to us simply because there is a backlog with the school system," Express Driving School driving coach Christian Fenderson said.
Fenderson says the shorter the amount of time between the classroom and getting behind the wheel - the better for preparing young drivers for the road.
"It’s just going to create an environment where they’re more comfortable with the vehicle and that’s just going to translate to better driving habits on the road," Fenderson said.
For 16-year-old Lincoln Foust, private instruction was quicker than waiting to get into the Wake County Schools Driver Education program. The family waited months for the Wake County program - only to find out that the classroom portion of the course was guaranteed not the driving portion.
"He could have waited weeks, months to get in a car behind the wheel. That’s what you need before taking the permit test," his mother, Maureen Foust, said.
Lincoln Foust said it is too late for some of his friends.
"It’s easier to wait until they’re 18 so they don’t have to do the drivers ed course because it takes so long to get in," Lincoln Foust said.