Indian Prairie District 204 looking to raise driver’s education fees next school year
Indian Prairie School District 204 families with students hoping to get behind the wheel may run into a higher fee starting next school year, as the school district looks to raise the amount it charges for driver’s education from $425 to $500.
At a school board meeting on Monday, the Indian Prairie School District 204 board approved of the district applying to the Illinois State Board of Education, or ISBE, for a waiver that would allow the district to raise its fees and help reduce the costs it incurs to run the program.
School districts are allowed to charge up to $250 for driver’s education under state rules. Anything beyond that amount must be submitted to ISBE for approval.
A district must hold a public hearing before it can submit a waiver application to increase its driver’s education fee, according to ISBE. That public hearing occurred at Monday’s school board meeting, during which no public comment was given.
District 204’s instruction includes a minimum of 30 hours of classroom instruction by a certified high school teacher, along with at least six hours of individual behind-the-wheel instruction, according to the district’s application for the waiver.
The district has been charging $425 for driver’s education since the 2024-25 school year, per a district presentation.
But that fee, combined with state funding the district receives, covers less than half of what the district pays to administer the program, per information from District 204.
With 740 students in the program, the district spent a little over $1.6 million on driver’s education last school year, according to District 204 Director of K-12 Elective Curriculum Grant Sahr.
Minus the course fee the district charges and the state’s contribution, Indian Prairie is left to cover over $1 million of that. Sahr said it’s common for districts across the state to run deficits with these kinds of programs in high schools.
Area districts charge fees in the range of $250 to $600, according to Sahr, while private driving schools range from $400 to a little under $1,000, the district’s presentation indicated.
With this new waiver application, the district is looking to increase its fee by $75, which would bring the total fee to $500 starting with the 2027-28 school year, according to Sahr. The district would plan to raise its fee by another $25 the following school year. The district would continue to offer a fee waiver to eligible students.
According to Sahr, the proposed hike would only decrease the district’s cost per student by around $15, given that the costs to run the program are rising.
Following the hearing, the Indian Prairie school board voted Monday in favor of the district applying for the waiver to raise its fee.
mmorrow@chicagotribune.com