The price of taking driver’s education through Naperville School District 203 could be on the rise.
Faced with increasing costs and less state funding than before the COVID-19 pandemic, the school board last week authorized administrators to seek a waiver from a portion of the Illinois school code, which caps the amount districts can charge for driver’s education at $250.
District 203 has received this waiver since 2017, allowing the driver’s education fee to rise to $400 this year. Now, Superintendent Dan Bridges said, administrators are applying for permission to charge up to $500 through the 2031 school year.
Driver’s education fee vote expected next month
The board voted unanimously to seek a renewed waiver, but this does not automatically increase the driver’s education fee for next year.
Chief Financial Officer Michael Frances said school board members are set to vote on the 2026-27 driver’s education fee during a meeting in February.
Fees don’t cover costs of driving instruction
Providing driving instruction as an option for high school students costs District 203 roughly $537,000 a year. Districts are mandated to offer driving courses, although many students choose to take driver’s education privately.
Costs of teaching students to drive in District 203 are anticipated to rise because of “increases in salary and hourly rates for staff resulting from the recent contract, as well as the requirement for us to purchase our own vehicles, where they had been donated in the past,” Frances said in a memo.
Student fees and the local portion of $14 million in state funding — down from $18 million before the pandemic in 2019 — allow the district to recoup about $277,000. Bridges said this “doesn’t come anywhere close to covering the cost of this course,” so the district supplements the program with local funding.
Closing the gap in driver’s education funding
School board member Amanda McMillen asked if charging $500 instead of $400 would help close the gap between what it costs to offer driver’s education and the funding the district receives.
Frances said yes — if school board members vote to charge $500 per student beginning next year, the district could bring in $50,000 in additional revenue.
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