Driver’s Education and Training

 

Policy

IEM Charter Schools will allow use of instructional funds to pay for Driver’s Education and Training at licensed driver’s training programs for the State of California, which lead to a CA driver’s permit. Online programs that meet this requirement are also allowed. No school funding can be used to complete a court or DMV ordered driver’s school program.

 

Course Options

There are two options for completing “Driver’s Education” with your students:

1.   Contract with a local approved driving school vendor by submitting a PO.  (DMV “Pink slips” must be awarded by the vendor, as the school MAY NOT issue “DMV pink slips”).

2.   Contract with an on-line approved driving school vendor by submitting a PO.  (DMV “Pink slips” must be awarded by the vendor, as the school MAY NOT issue “DMV pink slips”).

3.  If no “DMV pink slips” will be issued at the end of the course by the driving school vendor, STOP, do not submit a PO, as this program does not qualify!

4.  The ES may also award credits for “Driver’s Education” if the parent enrolls their child without using IF with a program that awards the DMV “Pink slips” at the end of the course.

 

DMV “Pink Slip” (Certification of Completion)

Students must have a DMV Certificate of Completion to take the driving test and be issued a driving license or learning permit to drive if the student is under 18 (check with DMV for any changes when ready to proceed with this). The vendor, not the school, issues the “DMV pink slip”. DMV regulates the programs which are able to issue these certificates, and the school is NOT authorized to issues these documents.

 

Report Card Course Name Options

·         For a course taken from an approved vendor or parent paid vendor (the vendor has issued/will issue a “DMV pink slip” to our students), the ES will use “Driver’s Education” as the course name and describe the learning in detail on the learning record, as there are no state standards in FRED for this course. 

·         If the student wishes to study driver’s education, but does not want a DMV pink slip, they may complete any course the ES and the parent agree upon. List the learning on the learning record and use the course name “Driver Safety and Awareness”. But, this may not be used for a court or DMV ordered driver’s school program.  This is only for students who are not pursuing a Driver’s License before they turn 18.

 

Credits

·         The Driver’s Education or Driver’s Safety and Awareness course can be taken for up to 5 credits, although most vendors do not teach a 5 unit course. The ES will use their professional judgment in awarding units for driver’s education. You may use the 15 hours = 1 credit as a guide for this.

·         Driver’s Training instruction can be counted for no more than 1 credit, as we only award credits for “new learning”.

·         No more than 5 credits can be used towards the 210 credits needed for graduation in any course name:  Driver’s Education or Driver’s Safety and Awareness.

 

Approval of Driving Schools

A list of approved driver’s education schools is available in the curriculum area of the school website. If an ES wants to use a vendor not presently on the approved vendor list, a vendor request form should be submitted to Vendor Relations, using the same process for any vendor a parent wishes to request. Do make sure before submitting the vendor for approval that they are authorized to issue a CA DMV “pink slip”.

 

Process for signing up students for Driver’s Education

1.   Parent or ES locates the local driving school offering the best combination of price and service and makes arrangement for the student to be served.

2.   The ES sends in a vendor approval request to have the business added to the IEM Charter Schools’ approved vendor list. (If not already a school vendor)

3.   The ES will process a “service” PO. Please submit a separate PO for the "in class" portion and the "behind the wheel" portion if the student is participating in both. We can only pay for this service while school is in session, and sometimes must cancel a PO that has not yet been used before the last day of school.

4.   The ES should tell the parent that a PO has been submitted, and ask them to call the vendor to start service.

5.   The ES will document skills learned on the student’s learning record under the correct course name.

6.   The ES may assign no more than 5 credits for Driver’s Education or Driver’s Safety and Awareness and 1 credit for Driver’s Training, using their professional judgment.