Should Alive at 25 be required in Fort Mill schools?

Some support tying course to parking pass; others say it's not school's responsibility

By Christy Mullins - cmullins@heraldonline.com

FORT MILL -- After two traffic deaths involving Fort Mill students, parents and school officials are split over requiring students to take a half-day, $35 driving course to obtain a parking pass at Fort Mill's high schools.

School officials favor the four-and-a-half hour driving safety class, called Alive at 25, because instructors drill new drivers on how to make good decisions and focus on the road. However, some school board candidates say it's not the school's responsibility to make sure teenagers are their safest when they get behind the wheel.

Others argue the course could save lives.

“I don't know that you could afford not to enroll them,” said school board member Patrick White. He said his 16-year-old daughter will take the class next month at Nation Ford High School. His 18-year-old son, now in college, took the course last year.

“If a parent can afford an automobile, car insurance and other expenses for their child to drive to school, $35 doesn't seem so cost prohibitive,” said White, who proposes tying completion of the driving class to getting a parking pass at high school.

The deaths of two Nation Ford High School students in traffic accidents last month renewed the debate that began last year, when White urged the district to require the class for students who drive to and park at school.

However, school district officials decided at that time to keep the class voluntary to save parents from having to pay the $35 fee for the course in a tough economy.

But after 16-year-old Michelle DiBernardini died while riding as a front-seat passenger in another student's car Oct. 12, White asked the school board to reconsider his idea.

When Luke Hoover, 17, died days later in a collision with a tree, White said there was no time to waste.

Fort Mill school board members are expected to talk about the issue during their Nov. 9 meeting, but they do not expect to vote until later, chairwoman Jan Smiley said.

About half of the state's 41 school districts that offer Alive at 25 make it mandatory for student drivers, said Steve Deibel, traffic safety coordinator for the South Carolina chapter of the National Safety Council.

The council is a nonprofit group that administers the Alive at 25 program and charges a fee to pay for instructors and course materials.

Nearly 19,000 people ages 15 to 24 have taken the Alive at 25 class in high schools, technical colleges and in the court system in the past two years, Deibel said, with five fatalities afterward involving people who took the class. South Carolina has seen 570 fatalities for people in the same age group who hadn't taken Alive at 25, he said.

Farrah Bui, a 17-year-old senior at Fort Mill High School who has taken the driving class, said she learned to be a safer driver. Bui said she recommends the class to her peers because the material is targeted to her age group and focuses on their worst habits.

Bui said she had two driving problems before she took the class: a lead foot and a tendency to run late. So Bui thought speeding would help her arrive on time.

But statistics taught in Alive at 25 showed her that increasing speed only made drivers get to their destinations about a minute earlier. So now, when she's tempted to drive faster, Bui thinks about what she learned: “Rushing to save a minute or two isn't worth the risk.”

Another Fort Mill High School senior, Sara Hall, took it a step further after taking the class in January, when she and another student recommended to the school board that the class become mandatory. The benefits of the class, Hall said, outweigh the cost.

Parents who attended an informational session on the class Thursday at Nation Ford High School had lots of questions. Many were confused about the topics and goals of the class, which were explained by a school resource officer. Some weren't aware of the fee. Others had already paid it and signed up their teenagers for the next class Nov. 7.

Dad Chris Borglin, whose daughter will be 15 next week, said he's “not passionate” about requiring the class for students who want to drive to school, but he is happy to pay for enrollment.