LONDONDERRY — After a lengthy debate on the future of the district’s in-house driver’s education program on Tuesday night, the Londonderry School Board opted to renew its contracts with A&R Driving School and Mr. H’s Driving School through 2015.

Both contracts were set to expire next month.

Recent state legislation has eliminated a requirement forcing school districts to provide a driver education program. As of this fall, the state will no longer offer a $150 reimbursement for students enrolled in driver’s education programs.

Londonderry’s driver’s education program costs $635 per student, which includes 30 hours of classroom instruction and 10 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction.

While other districts have since recommended eliminating driver education programs from their curriculums, Londonderry had never included its program in the high school curriculum since students aren’t given credits for taking the class, according to Business Administrator Peter Curro.

“We’ve provided the service on campus in order for families to receive a discount, while providing the service in a convenient location for the students,” Curro said this week. “And even though the discount and requirement for all schools to offer a driver education program has been discontinued by the state, we feel there is still value to provide a program on campus offering a very flexible array of classroom time and behind-the-wheel driving instruction time.”

With the student population declining, school officials recently questioned whether it was necessary to continue offering two different vendors for its driver’s education program.

Several years ago, Londonderry High School worked with a single driver’s education provider, Curro said, and it soon became apparent that more help was needed to meet the needs of active and involved students.

Opening up the driver’s education programs to students in other districts might also prove popular, Curro said, since other area districts will be eliminating their own programs.

“We’re not getting any money or paying any money in exchange for this service,” Superintendent Nathan Greenberg said. “We’re not purchasing anything with public dollars, we’re simply making arrangements with these two vendors as a convenience for students and parents.”

School Board member John Robinson expressed concern over the current driver’s education practices, noting that it might be unfair to limit program availability to two vendors.

“If we’re going to do this, shouldn’t all businesses have the opportunity to offer this?” he asked Greenberg.

“By taking money and dealing with this, the district is, in fact, acting as an agent,” he continued.

Greenberg said: “No matter who we allow to do this, there are kids here during the day. By allowing whatever company comes in we’re saying we’ll offer our supervision to allow that to happen. We know which kids are going out and when. This process makes it easier for the parents.”

The board voted, 3-1, in favor of renewing the contracts, with Robinson the dissenting vote.