At the Okeechobee County Political forum on July 30, Steve Weikert, who ran for sheriff in the 2024 election...
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OKEECHOBEE — At the Okeechobee County Political forum on July 30, Steve Weikert, who ran for sheriff in the 2024 election, made a comment that Okeechobee High School does not have a Driver’s Education course. That statement raised some questions and concerns from parents in the community.
Okeechobee High School does have a Driver’s Education class, however, they no longer have vehicles for behind-the-wheel training. There was a rumor circulating the high school that a former senior class had damaged the vehicles in a senior prank and that was the reason OHS no longer uses actual vehicles in their course. Joseph Stanley, Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services for Okeechobee County School board, stated that the senior prank rumor is just a rumor and nothing else.
According to Stanley, when the COVID-19 pandemic reached the U.S. in 2020, the six-foot social distancing rule made it impossible for instructors to ride alongside students in a vehicle. The vehicles that the school had been using prior to the COVID pandemic were on loan from a local auto dealer and since they were sitting and not being used, they were returned to the dealer.
Stanely explained that in place of behind-the-wheel training, in 2021 Okeechobee County Schools adopted a program that allows students to participate in a driving simulation. The simulator being used by Okeechobee County Schools is VDE (Virtual Driving Essentials™). If you would like to get an idea of what your child will be seeing if they take the class, you can view a demo of the simulation at driverinteractive.com/virtual-driving-essentials-demo/
Knowing all of this, the question remains - is a driving simulation enough to prepare a teen for the real road?
When Lake Okeechobee News made a Facebook post asking students and parents what they thought of the Driver’s Ed class at OHS, several of the responses indicated that they were not happy with the class at all and some stated that their child did not even participate in a driving simulation.
Kari Barney responded by asking, “How does one learn to drive without… driving??”
Tonya Zahn, a mother of two teens who took Driver’s Ed at OHS, saw the Facebook post and sent Lake Okeechobee News an email. She responded: “Both my teenagers took Driver’s Ed at Okeechobee High and both of them failed the class because every time they signed up for the test, the teacher would be out. When I would call to complain, I would always get excuses. Now I have a 19-year-old and a 17-year-old with no license. I’m handicapped and a single mom and was looking forward to Driver's Ed class teaching my teenagers to drive due to I can’t. One of my teenagers took it just last year 2023-2024 semester and my other teenager took it the year before 2021-2022. Also, neither of my teenagers remember taking a driving simulation.”
Another parent, Letty Madrigal, said, “My daughter took it last year and there was no simulator or hands on driving. Didn’t get much out of it.”
In a sit-down interview, 2024 graduate Aiden Davis, 18, stated that he took the Driver’s Ed class during his sophomore or junior year but he does not recall any driving simulation being used at all and, as it was post COVID, there was no training behind the wheel of a real vehicle.
Only one student so far, Toby Jarrett, has reported taking a driving simulation in the Driver’s Ed class. Toby stated, “It’s a good class to learn. There might not be any hands on learning right now but they go through all the driver's books. Very easy to get a permit and or license if you pay attention. They have a driving simulator that taught me a lot.”
When asked why so many parents and teens are claiming that their children took the class but did not receive the driving simulation instruction, Stanley said that the simulation is in the curriculum and should be being used, however, he is not at the high school on a daily basis and cannot confirm if it actually is being used. Stanley also explained that there are currently no plans to bring real vehicles back into the course because there is no driving range at the high school for the students and he does not believe there are plans for a driving range at the new OHS that is currently under construction.
Now there seem to be two questions: Is a driving simulation enough to prepare a teen for the real road? And, is the driving simulation even being used at OHS?