Driving School Expands Into St. Cloud Area

(KNSI) – A shortage of certified instructors has new drivers stuck in park.

Owner Connor Illies has recently expanded his Central Lakes Driving School to St. Cloud, with three teachers on staff. The school also has an Alexandria location, which is a bit bigger. Illies says some of his students come from over an hour away to complete their driver’s education requirements.

“Our school’s lucky that we haven’t been too backed up ever. But I know others in need in certain areas of the state. I mean, we’re getting people to drive all the way from St. Paul up to our St. Cloud location and we’re getting people to drive all the way from Moorhead to our Alex location. Hour-and-a-half or two hours to get appointments in.”

Illies says his school is hiring. He says full-time positions are available, but part-time hires work best. Illies points to the first week of school as a great example of a time when teenagers have other priorities, making it hard to fill a full slate of rides for someone wanting to work a 40-hour week.

Illies explains the certification process.

“First off, you gotta send in your high school or college transcripts, along with a full background check, and along with your fingerprints down to the state and then they’ll run that background check through the BCA [Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.] Then you’ve got to submit the driving record and in the last five years if you’ve had any outrageous speeding tickets and DWIs, there’s going to be disqualifications for that.”

Once those hurdles are cleared, prospective instructors have to pass a 100-question written exam. Illies says it can take up to four hours, and some people have said they have had their hand cramp up during the test.

They then have to pass a road test and meet with Dan Kerwin from the state Driver Education Office. Kerwin has veto power in deciding if someone is certified as an instructor even if they have cleared all of the other requirements.

The St. Cloud office is located at 18 15th Avenue South. More information on joining the company is here.

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