With the summer sessions of the Driver’s Education program ending last Wednesday, June 15, Highland Elementary School Principal and Driver’s Education instructor Chris Trostad is preparing for High School students interested in getting their permits before the school year begins as the Fall session starts on Thursday, July 14.
Students interested in taking this session must fill out a registration form and email a scan or picture of the completed form to Principal Chris Trostad at christrostad@isd593.org, or they can drop off the form in the Highland Elementary School or Crookston High School front office. The deadline to turn in the registration forms to join the course is Friday, July 8, with a fee of $325 that must be paid on or before the first day of class on July 14. Otherwise, they will not be registered to take the course, though Trostad has noted that he is willing to accept registration forms one day before the first day of classes (Wednesday, July 13). If a student has taken the course before and is retaking it for this session, they will only have to pay $50.
To be eligible to take the course, students must be turning the age of 15 by November 31. The deadline for their age must be specified to be a later date than the deadline of them turning in the registration form, so the students must plan if this is the best session for them to take now or if there is a better time during the school year. Principal Trostad also reported that the students must attend at least ten classes to be eligible to take the written test at the end. Principal Trostad also noted that the course would not interfere with any fall sports practices or games, so any student-athletes looking to get their driver’s permit before the school year begins. “I scheduled the class, so it finishes prior to Fall Sports beginning, so kids don’t have to miss practices or games,” Highland Principal Chris Trostad explained. “We do offer Driver’s Ed multiple times a year, but for those kids where it just doesn’t work out in the summer, this is an option for them to get it done and not have to miss any of their Fall Sports,” he added. Trostad also wished to remind parents that the course will have a Supplemental Parent Course and encourages them to take part in it to help reduce the number of driving hours their child will have to log for the course and potentially make them safer drivers in the future. “Parents that come with their child will get a certificate that eliminates ten hours that they have to log on a supervised log form that they have to bring with them to get their driver’s license. If they attend the class, they have to have 15 hours at night, and 40 hours in total, otherwise they have to log 50 hours in total, of which is 20 hours at night if they don’t sit through the call,” Trostad explained. “The biggest benefit is that they have found a significant reduction in the number of preventable crashes with teens when parents sit through the class along with their child. I think there’s lots of really valuable information that they get from all of the different organizations that come in and talk about some of the most dangerous areas of Polk County,” he added. Some of the organizations participating in the course include the Polk County Highway Department, the Crookston Police Department, and Polk County Sheriff’s Office.
Trostad also explained that the $325 fee that the students must pay would cover the entire Drivers Education requirements, which after the 30 hours of instruction will get them a blue card and allow the students to go to the Polk County DVS Office in the Polk County Government Office with two forms of ID, two primaries forms or one primary and one secondary form to take the written test. A primary form of ID includes a passport/passcard or a regional birth certificate; a secondary form of ID is a social security card or an official transcript from the High School. When the students pass the test, they then have to tell Mr. Trostad, who will schedule a driving session with Behind-the-Wheel Instructor Rod Olson to drive with them for five hours to receive a white card. With the white card, they can then schedule their Road Test online. If they pass that, they get their probationary license which lets them drive until they’re 18, with certain restrictions, such as not being allowed to drive at night unless for school or work-related reasons or with their cellphones on while they drive during the first six months and they are allowed to drive with one non-family member and as many family members as they have seatbelts in the car. For the second six months, they can have up to three non-family members in the car. For the second year, all restrictions are lifted except for the cellphone activation. If they are able to go those two years with no accidents, moving violations, or tickets, they can get their full driver’s license. Otherwise, they will have to get another two-year probationary license.
The Fall Driver’s Education course will meet Mondays through Fridays from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. from Thursday, July 14 to Friday, July 29, with a fee of $325 or $50 for students retaking the course due by July 13 at the latest. Students must be turning 15 years or older by November 31 to enroll in the course and attend ten classes in order to take the written test. If parents or students have any questions about the course, they can contact Highland Principal and Course Instructor Chris Trostad at 218-281-5600 or at christrostad@isd593.org. The registration form for the course can be found below or by clicking here.
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