Commercial driver-education schools here are expecting a wave of new business this fall as local school districts hike the prices they charge for drivers training or drop those programs altogether.


To handle the anticipated demand, one local driver-training school, run by Inland Automobile Association (AAA), is building another classroom and will buy two more cars for behind-the-wheel instruction, says Ed Sharman, the organizations managing director for traffic safety.


Theres a possibility that halfway through the school year we might decide that weve got to ramp up even higher, he says. Its hard to predict where this is going to go.


Larry Hinshaw, owner of Spokane Driving School Inc., agrees, saying that anticipating demand right now is kind of a guessing game. Hinshaw and another private driving school here, however, say they wont follow AAAs lead in expanding their programs until that demand becomes concrete.


Changes to the longtime system of school-sponsored drivers ed take effect when the 2002-2003 school year starts next week, following the Legislatures decision last year to eliminate funding for drivers education in schools.


Central Valley School District decided not to offer drivers ed at all, and Spokane School District No. 81 will begin charging students $380, up from $300 last year and $150 two years ago. Prices also are going up in the East Valley and West Valley school districts, to $225 and $260, respectively.


In comparison, Spokane Driving School charges $250 for a five-week course of driving instruction; AAA charges $250 for members children and $300 for nonmembers; and a third local program, B&B Driving School, charges $295.


Becci Humphrey, who owns B&B with her husband, Eldyn, says B&Bs classes were busier than usual this summer, possibly because of the unknown of what was going to be offered (in schools) in the fall. She believes students were trying to get it out of the way.


Sharman said earlier this month that several of AAAs classes for the fall already were full.


More changes likely are afoot, driving-school operators say.


Hinshaw believes that unless state funding is reinstated, other local school districts will follow Central Valleys lead and drop their driver-training programs, too.


The schools that are keeping it right now are really hanging in there one more year, he says.


Tessa McCray, director of traffic-safety education for District 81, confirms that assessment.


At the end of this year, if the state does not see fit to put back in some financial support, we wont have traffic safety next year, she says.


While the end of state funding might seem to be a boon to driver-training companies, such companies say they must overcome some obstacles to be able to take advantage of that opportunity.


For example, it could be difficult for commercial schools to meet the demand for driver training because it can be hard to find good instructors, Hinshaw and Sharman say.


Not everybody can do thisnot everybody can drive with teen-agers in a car, Hinshaw says.


Says Sharman, Its not feasible for us to completely fill this gap thats being created.


Making the task of attracting new teachers somewhat easier is the fact that earlier this summer, oversight of for-profit, independent driving schools transferred to the state Department of Licensing from the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Hinshaw says.


The superintendents office had some restrictive rules that such schools now are lobbying to change, he says. For example, current policies prohibit Idaho residents from teaching driving in Washington statea big headache here, where schools could tap many potential instructors who live across the state line, he says.


Driving schools have got a committee working on some of those things, but obviously not fast enough. Weve got a tidal wave of kids coming at us, and weve got to solve these problems quickly, Hinshaw says.


Sharman says hes dismayed that the state ended school funding for drivers ed, especially since just a year ago it implemented new, more stringent rules for teen-age drivers. Under legislation that took effect in July 2001, teens are issued intermediate drivers licenses that restrict the number of other teen-agers they can have in a car with them. Passing an approved driver-education course is one prerequisite for receiving an intermediate drivers license.


The state law was passed, and now a year later the state has pulled back its subsidization of drivers ed, which forces the burden onto families that can afford it, Sharman says. The schools that still offer drivers ed subsidize its cost for low-income students, but if all the schools drop drivers ed, some students simply wont be able to afford private lessons, he says.


Whats more, at the age of 18, a teen can get a drivers license without taking drivers ed, leaving open the possibility that some will wait until theyre 18 and not get the training that everybody needs to skillfully drive a vehicle, Sharman says.