No reprieve in orders to shutter Framingham road test site, despite residents' pleas

FRAMINGHAM – Maria Cristina Oliveira Palva is a Framingham soccer mom who has had to scramble to get her 16-year-old son to his practices and games. And she had to depend on her co-worker to drive to the different homes they clean as a team. If her co-worker Laciana Alcántara gets sick, they cancel the day’s appointments, both losing that day’s pay.

Alcántara was the only one of them who had a valid Massachusetts license and was legally allowed to drive.

That was in the past.

On Friday, Oliveira Palva was one of dozens of eager permit holders taking the road tests at a special test site run by the CMSC Driving School at a Framingham strip mall. The test site was commissioned in 2022 by the state Registry of Motor Vehicles to manage the anticipated crush of immigrant residents seeking to acquire a license after the enactment of the Work and Family Mobility Act.

The new law allows all Massachusetts residents to apply for a driver’s license regardless of legal standing in the United States. The RMV anticipated thousands of residents would apply for licenses; to date it has processed 91,960 learner’s permits, issued 54,952 new driver’s licenses and converted 33,648 licenses issued by other states, according to its website.

Applicants cite location, ease of access at site

Despite the success of the test site and the raves of the newly licensed motorists expressing gratitude that they could test close to home and work, the state shuttered the program on March 2, four months before the yearlong contract was due to expire in July.

The owners of CMSC Driving School have cried foul. The family-run company based in West Boylston signed a one-year contract to run three test sites in Avon, Worcester and Framingham, with an option to extend for a second year.

Owner Jake Cooney said there were problems implementing the contract specifications from the start. While two of the three sites were not fully functional due to glitches Cooley claims were in the RMV registration system, the one in Framingham was up and running, ready to serve a city with a sizable Brazilian population.

A spokesperson for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation issued this statement: "The RMV notified CMSC on January 30, 2024, that it was exercising its contractual right to terminate the Agreement effective March 1, 2024.  March 1 will be the last day of road test services provided by CMSC."

Alternate sites for testing include two RMV-run sites in Worcester.

Rony Da Silva, a Framingham resident, has made it his mission to help as many of his compatriots acquire a Massachusetts driver’s license as possible. He has spent months telling friends, family and neighbors about the test site in their community and driving people to the location to take the road test.

“I’ve brought a lot of people here,” Da Silva said, noting the RMV closed the local office in Framingham years ago and now residents have to drive to Milton or Worcester to process their paperwork and take the tests. “This is where the people live, where they need the service.”

Da Silva is hopeful all the day’s applicants pass their road tests. Failure means a three-month wait for a new appointment and a long drive to another state test site and possibly losing a day’s pay.

Brazilian community organizers have launched a petition drive requesting the RMV maintain the Framingham location as a road test site. To date, the petition has been signed by more than 200 people and copies of the letter were sent to 115 legislators and state officials, starting with Sen. Michael Moore, D-Millbury.

Jose Ribeiro, a Framingham landscaper, was at the center for his road test. A Framingham resident, he said having a driver’s license is a need in the United States for taking kids to school and for shopping, medical appointments and work.

Applicants cite importance of driver's license in US life

“As a landscaper, I have for drive,” Ribeiro said.

Dora Alicia Torres, a Marlborough resident concurred. "Without a driver’s license, you can’t leave the house really, can’t get a job, can’t drive to school, can’t shop.”

Applicants with valid learner’s permits schedule a road test through the RMV website. There are 30 approved RMV locations, the Framingham site and an extra one just for members of the American Automobile Association. When they pick a time and location, there is an option to request an interpreter; these are assigned to locations throughout the commonwealth by the RMV.

Tatiana Makredes has spent days at the Framingham site as an interpreter for Portuguese speakers. Hers is the calming voice that the nervous new drivers hear telling them to step on the brake, ease into traffic and make the next right turn. She has served as interpreter so frequently that she knows the testing styles of the examiners, a further balm to nervous drivers.

“They can concentrate on following the directions and taking the test, not on trying to understand the language,” Makredes said. One of the women she worked with was so happy to pass her test that she burst into tears. “She said that now she can drive her kids to school.”

It was the second time she took the test.

Wallace Nascimento drove to the test site with his boss, Stephen Marcus, owner of five Ben & Jerry’s outlets in Massachusetts, one each in Natick and Marlborough. Driving his “key guy” to the test center was a given. “I’d do anything to make his life easier,” Marcus said of Nascimento.

The Brazilian native, who has lived for years in Framingham, jumped at the chance to get a Massachusetts license and take the road test in a place close to his home and job.

“It was easy, so easy,” Nascimento said, an assessment echoed by his boss, who found it to be convenient.

The driving school invested about $250,000 in fulfilling the contract specifications, such as finding and securing test locations and hiring and training new examiners. In addition to the lost revenue, the state was to pay the school $58 per completed examination, Cooney said the decision to close the testing site hurts the community that his school was contracted to help.

Attorney requests contract be reinstated

Cooney has contacted his attorney, who has requested the RVM reinstate the contract without prejudice.

Scott Sinrich of Phillips, Silver, Talman, Aframe and Sinrich in Worcester said the state needs a “good faith” reason to terminate the contract early.

“They (CMSC) did a wonderful job, there were no complaints,” Sinrich said, adding that the state monitored the CMSC testing locations and the examiners closely to ensure the examiners adhered to RMV testing standards and protocols. The state, Sinrich said, was free to terminate the contract at its expiration if it was dissatisfied with the service provided or had cause for complaint.

“This is doing a big disservice to the people,” Sinrich said, adding that the program was successful and functioning well with no complaints. “This testing site was not taking business away from the state employees, no one lost their jobs because the RMV contracted with CMSC. The school filled a void; without the site, people will have to travel unnecessarily and face delays in securing an appointment.”

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: No complaints just smiles for examiners at Framingham road test site