Calling all high school students, and parents of high school students, who are ready to sign up for Drivers Education. There are a couple sessions coming up starting with one in the beginning of April.
“We do offer spring session for Drivers Ed. A lot of kids get busy in the summer working so that has been kind of a popular thing,” says Drivers Ed instructor Chris Trostad. “There is a spring session coming up that is going to be starting April 3.” With that session coming up here in a couple of days sign up needs to be completed now. “Anybody interested you can go online and then register,” says Trostad. “You go right on the Crookston Schools website, go under departments, there is a Driver’s Ed tab there. You can pay online there as well too. It’s $325 for new students, that includes the classroom and the behind the wheel.”
Trostad says if a student has been in the class before and just didn’t finish or needs to retake the course it’s just $50. “A lot of kids, it just gets to be a lot of work. If they just need more time they can enroll in the class a second time.” For those students who need to wait till the school year is over then the summer course might be the best option. “There is also Driver’s Ed in the summertime,” says Trostad. “That one starts June 2, so, you can register at any time and you can pay using your credit card online, you can pay at the high school office and if you prefer you can pick up an actual registration form in the high school office and fill it out too.”
Of course there are some age requirements that need to be considered when signing up for Driver’s Ed. “Students need to be 15 years old relatively close to the class,” says Trostad. “I put a date on the registration forms. We just don’t want them taking the class and its nine months later before they finally get their written permit. We try to use that two to three months so as soon as they take the class it’s fresh in their memory.” A couple other things to keep in mind, that are required as part of the class. “Students have to log 50 hours, in which 20 of them have to be at night,” says Trostad. “Once they get their permit, they need to hold that written permit for six months and be 16 years old and all actual driving exams and the written test you now need to go on the Department of Motor Vehicles website and schedule.”
There are also farm permits that are issued to teens so they can help with family farm operations. “Students that are going to get a farm permit, they are limited to 20 miles from the farm, can’t be at night and it has to be for farm related purposes,” says Trostad. “They can actually get their drivers license when they are 15 years old. So, when they turn 15, they take the written permit, they have to drive for six hours behind the wheel, get a white card in order to take the road test, same as all students, and then when those students log their 50 hours, 20 at night, then they can schedule their road test as soon after their 15th birthday and they have completed those two things.”
If you have any questions about Driver’s Ed you can call Chris Trostad at Highland School.
