A program to help teens on the path to get their driver's licenses has been expanded to serve every school in Mahoning County.

According to a press release, the "Drive To Succeed" program was introduced by the Boardman Police Department in May of 2024 thanks to a two-year $147,885 grant from the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

The program is a needs-based scholarship program that pays $475 of the $500 cost for driver's training.

Originally, the program only served students at Boardman Local Schools. Now, with the permission of the Ohio Traffic Safety Office, the program has been expanded to serve qualifying students at any Mahoning County school district.

In order to qualify for the scholarship, you must meet the following requirements:

- Must be enrolled and in good standing at a high school in Mahoning County or have a letter from your local school district approving you for home schooling and meet other eligibility requirements.

- Must be at least 15 and a half years old, have a GPA of at least 2.0 

- Must have no habitual truancy, no habitual absences and no excessive detentions for tardiness, late to class or other disciplinary issues.

- Financial need must be proven by the student and family and will be determined by guidelines established by the Ohio Department of Education Office of Nutrition's National School Lunch Program and used by their High School Food Services Department.

- If a student is not receiving free or reduced school lunch, they must experience a financial hardship causing a decrease in household income, unemployment, an increase in household size or be eligible to receive SNAP or Ohio Works First (OWF) funds and fills out an application.

- The student and their parent/guardian must complete an affidavit confirming the student is not already enrolled in driver training and has not received any formal driver training.

- Students and their parents/guardians must sign a contract of participation for the program. Students' respective schools must agree to the letter of commitment with the below requirements as outlined in the grant program.

- The school must agree to distribute and collect Drive to Succeed student scholarship forms and provide them to the Boardman Township Police Department

- The school must agree to assist the Boardman Police Department in determining that interested students meet the scholarship requirements.

Qualifying students must contact their respective schools and let them know they are interested. From there, the schools must contact Boardman Police Sergeant Paul Grimes at [email protected] or 330-726-4177 to obtain information and forms about the program.

Ohio law requires 16 and 17-year-olds take 24 hours of classroom instruction and complete eight hours of behind-the-wheel instruction with a licensed instructor, as well as 50 hours of in-car experience including 10 hours at night with a parent or guardian, as well as have their permit for at least six months in order to get their license.