Salisbury Students Inconvenienced by Driver’s Ed Change

Parkland School District’s decision to contract with the Carbon Lehigh Intermediate Unit for behind-the-wheel training has had a ripple effect that is inconveniencing students at other schools, including

Students who sign up for the IU 21 lessons must now go to Parkland High School in South Whitehall or IU 21 in Schnecksville instead of being picked up by the driving instructor at their own high school. For some parents, getting their kids to another district after school or on weekends presents a problem.

Karen Renninger of Salisbury Township said it will be difficult to get her 16-year-old son to Parkland for lessons because she and her husband work and her son plays sports for Salisbury High.  “My husband and I are disappointed with the decision to make this change,” she said. “It would have helped our son to be a better, safer driver and he will most likely miss out on this opportunity.”

Linda Harbison of Allentown had the same concern about transporting her son Ryan, a sophomore at Allen High School, to Parkland for lessons. When their daughter Meghan took the lessons the IU driving instructor picked her up and dropped her home so Harbison and her husband never had to leave work to take her for instruction.   

Jennifer Brown of Salisbury Township, whose son Tyler took the lessons through the IU, said the convenience of the driving instructor picking up Tyler in Salisbury was key. “It was an excellent experience, everything about it, but if I had to drive up there [to Parkland] I’m not sure I would have done it,” Brown said.

Salisbury and most other school districts in Lehigh County don’t have their own driver’s education program but instead pay the intermediate unit a yearly fee of $2,200 to be part of its driver training consortium. Students then pay the IU $285 for six lessons behind the wheel, up from $275 last year.  The lessons aren’t mandatory and families can look for other alternatives.  

That’s true for students in Allentown, Catasauqua, Whitehall-Coplay, Northern Lehigh and Northwestern Lehigh and now Parkland. East Penn and Southern Lehigh have their own driver’s education programs. 

As late as last April, the IU was sending letters to Salisbury parents who signed their children up for behind-the-wheel lessons specifying: “We pick up and drop off the student at their district high school.”

But that changed since Parkland joined the consortium. In the face of state budget cuts, Parkland decided last spring to end its behind the wheel driver training program and instead join the IU 21 consortium for a fee of $1,500. Parkland still offers its own driver’s theory classes, which is why it pays less than other districts.

L. Randy Claroni, director of curriculum, instruction and professional development at Parkland, said in an e-mail that his district did not require the IU to station the driver’s ed cars at the high school or pick students up there as a prerequisite for signing on to the consortium.

Jacqueline Sham, IU coordinator of curriculum and instruction/educational technologies, said “We always serviced people from the intermediate unit and we’ve added that site at Parkland. We’ve taken on more instructors and we’re centralizing our programs so it’s equal access to all our school districts.”

Told that some parents from other districts were unhappy with the change, Sham said if the program continues to grow they might be able to add more pickup sites.

The change came as a surprise to some of the participating high schools. Salisbury High Principal Heather Morningstar said the first she had heard of it was from a reporter asking about it.  “They run that program independent of us,” Morningstar said of the IU.

The IU also offers a drivers theory class at its offices in Schnecksville and at Allen High School. This year, the IU added an online class so students can take a drivers theory course from home.  Students who do a theory class and behind the wheel lessons are often eligible for discounts on their car insurance.