Driver’s education classes in Beaufort County have been suspended until at least mid-September, a decision the Board of Education made at Monday night’s meeting as a result of uncertain state funding.

The motion was approved unanimously.

As of July 1, the state legislature has ceased funding for the classes until a budget decision is made, prompting at least one-third of North Carolina counties to discontinue the classes during the months of July and August.

The Beaufort County Board of Education decided to shoulder the funds for those two months in the hopes that the state would decide on a budget — but to no avail.

Joe Tkach, a longtime driver’s education coordinator for the county, said students have to complete two parts of driver’s education: the book part and the driving part.

He said the student must assume a portion of the cost along with the school district, which pays the state’s driving school about $225 per student to provide a certified teacher for the classes and also has to provide a car for the driving portion. The state funding then goes to reimburse the money paid by the county school district.

The board’s decision allows students who have already begun the driving portion and those who have completed the book portion and are waiting for driving lessons to complete the program. It suspends the county from continuing with any new classes.

The General Assembly is once again at odds, as the House proposed to continue funding the program and the Senate proposed to cut all funding and move the classes to community colleges.

“We’re moving into the month of September with that uncertainty,” Beaufort County Schools Superintendent Don Phipps said at the meeting. “This may all be null and void after the state makes that decision.”

Several board members expressed that they felt it was important to go ahead and make this decision now, considering their next meeting wouldn’t be until a work session on Sept. 14.

“We regret having to put a hold on this program,” Phipps said in a press release. “Until we know what will and will not occur regarding the budget for this year, we have to proceed cautiously.”

After board member Butch Oliver made a motion to suspend the classes, board member Carolyn Walker insisted they allow the students who are already in the middle of driver’s education to complete the course, thus prompting an amended motion from Oliver.

“They had good faith in us,” Walker said.

Tkach estimated that the Beaufort County program served about 600 eighth graders, or rising ninth graders, each year from the public school system as well as the private schools.

He said in a press release that no classes were being scheduled for September or October until the district knows what the state decides.

“No one really knows. I certainly don’t,” Tkach said at the meeting.