Trucking students

OTHELLO — The Othello School District has instituted a commercial driver's license program that will be offered for the spring semester at Othello High School, with about 25 students registered for the course.

“For a few years now, actually, we've really wanted to bring this program in as a response to workforce need,” said OSD’s Student Services Director Amy Parris. “In our community, we're kind of known as a trucking community and it's a regional need for sure, all over eastern Washington and an even greater (area).”

Parris said that twice as many students were interested in the course as were registered, but many couldn’t register due to age or not meeting the program’s requirements.

“The kids have to be 18 to be able to get their permit to drive, so we are offering it just at the very end of their senior year, the last term, so that as many kids as (possible) can enroll.”

The course will consist of both a classroom portion at the Othello High School and the actual driving instruction portion at the Othello School District transportation department, which will require a certain amount of driving time and practice to pass the course.

“We like to do CTE (Career and Technical Education) as much as we can and bring in programs and classes that are in response to the needs out there,” Parris said. “I'm working very closely with our transportation director, Marian Shade, for the OSD transportation center.”

Parris also said the school district is partnering with the Columbia Basin Health Association to provide the physical examinations required to obtain a CDL in Washington as well as with a private company to obtain a training vehicle.

“We bought a semi and a tanker,” Parris said. “We found a really cool company … LTI, and they are kind of known for supporting educational institutions like us … And so they gave it to us at a really good rate. We wouldn't have been able to buy a real rig, but It's perfect for a training rig.”

The course will also go over the guidelines required to obtain the actual CDL and provide an opportunity for students to test for the license, Parris said.

“We are gonna bring in outside testers for the kids at the very end of the class,” she said. “Our goal is not to just prep them and then they go out and get their licenses but to actually train them, test them, do everything so that they leave here ready to get hired.”

Parris said they have two instructors ready to teach the course, an experienced bus and commercial vehicle driver with a CDL who will be in charge of the driving instruction portion of the course, and the district’s primary bus driver trainer who is in the process of obtaining a Class A CDL that qualifies her to teach the classroom portion of the course.

The district is also working with local companies in the trucking industry.

“Some of the companies … they kind of want a piece of this too,” Parris said. “They want to come in and speak to the kids, talk to them about what it's really like, make sure that we're doing the safety pieces they want and all that, and they are super excited to be able to hire some kids.”

A CDL training course at other schools, such as Big Bend Community College, costs somewhere between $4,500 and $8,000, said Parris. The school district’s course will be considerably cheaper, with students only responsible for paying for the permit, licensing and testing process.

Parris said that once they lay the groundwork and start operating the program, they may be able to expand it to more than just high school students, and they are optimistic about the program’s potential.

Gabriel Davis may be reached at gdavis@columbiabasinherald.com. Download the Columbia Basin Herald app on iOS and Android.