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Driver's Education & the Home-Schooled Student
5/27-24.2 Driver Education Course
$ 27-24-2. Driver Education course. Any school
district which maintains grades 9 through 12 shall offer a driver
education course in any such school which it operates. Both
the classroom instruction part and the practice driving part of
such driver education course shall be open to a resident or non-resident
pupil attending a non-public school in the district wherein the
course is offered and to each resident of the district who acquires
or holds a currently valid driver's license during the term of
that course and who is at least 15, but has not reached 21 years
of age, without regard to whether any such person is enrolled
in any other course offered in any school that the district operates.
Each student attending any public or non-public high school in
the district must receive a passing grade in at least 8 courses
during the previous two semesters prior to enrolling in a driver
education course, or the student shall not be permitted to enroll
in the course; provided that the local superintendent of schools
(with respect to a student attending a public high school in the
district) may waive the requirement if the superintendent or chief
school administrator, as the case may be, deems it to be in the
best interest of the student.
•[skipped unrelated section in law]•
However, a student may be allowed to
commence the classroom instruction part of such driver education
course prior to reaching age 15 if such student then will be eligible
to complete the entire course within 12 months after being allowed
to commence such classroom instruction.
Such a driver education course may include classroom instruction
on the safety rules and operation of motorcycles or motor driven
cycles.
Such a course may be commenced immediately after the completion
of a prior course. Teachers of such courses shall meet the
certification requirements of this Act and regulations of the
State board as to qualifications.
Laws 1961, p. 31 $ 27-24-2, eff. July 1, 1961. Amended
by Laws 1967, p 2325$ 1, eff. July 31, 1967; Laws 1967, p. 2926
$1, eff. Aug. 11, 1967; Laws 1968, p. 424, $1, eff. July 1, 1969;
P.A. 76-1056, $ 1, eff. Aug. 28, 1969; P.A. 81-1508, $ 13,
eff. Sept. 25, 1980; P.A. 85-359, $ 1, eff. Sept. 11, 1987; P.A.
88-188, $ 5, eff. Jan. 1, 1994
Formerly Ill. Rev. Stat. 1991, ch. 122, Paragraph 27-24.2
The Illinois School Code is very clear in regard to non-public
school students enrolling in a Driver's Education Course (see
highlighted section).
Some suggestions for actually dealing with your local school
district when making a request for your homeschooled student to
attend their driver's education course are as follows:
Try calling your local high school first; ask who is in
charge of the driver's ed course as you would like to go about
enrolling your non-public school student (or private/homeschooled
student) in the course.
In the ideal scenario, you will then be referred to the
appropriate individual who will be knowledgeable about the provision
for non-public school students. This individual may ask
for information such as the name address and phone number of the
student as well as a birthdate (in some schools, priority is given
to the oldest students first).
If the individual thinks that your student cannot be enrolled,
you might try explaining the provision in the Illinois School
Code. If that does not seem to help, you might try working
your way up the "chain of command." Try the principal,
then the local school superintendent, then the regional superintendent
until you find someone who is indeed aware of the provisions of
the law.
In at least one instance that we are aware of, the first
contact said that there wasn't any room for the student.
When the local superintendent was phoned, he in turn let the initial
person contacted know that if they didn't find room for the student,
the local school district would have to pay for the student to
attend a course in an adjacent district. Needless to say,
room was found.
Other options:
You may be able to find a private agency qualified to teach students under the age of 18. This usually costs more than the public school, but it has the advantage of being under your control to a greater extent and you may find their hours to be more convenient than those of the public school.
If you wait until the student is 18 years of age, you will not need to enroll him/her in a specially qualified course. A driver's permit may be obtained at 18 years of age with a vision test and a written test. For more information on this option, contact your local State of Illinois Driver's Facility.
There are some correspondence courses available from various sources but in Illinois these do not satisfy the requirement that the student be enrolled in a course certified to teach students under 18. If your student is 18 or more, and you wish to pursue this option you might try the following sources:
Phoenix Special
Programs
800/426-4952
They have a Driver
and Safety Education course. They use Drive Right (2000 ed.)by
Johnson et al, published by Scott,
Foresman & Co.
Brigham Young University
Independent
High School Study
800/914-8931
They have a Driver
Education course and they use the "Drive Right".
A word of caution - Check with your insurance agent to see
whether or not enrollment in an actual course will affect your
teenager's insurance rates. There are often discounts given
for "good grades" and at least one company will not
offer discounts to homeschoolers because the students were not
graded.
For more information, please check the State of Illinois legal update page for teen drivers.
Copyright © 1997-2001 H.O.U.S.E. May be
reproduced for personal use as long as this notice is included
in its entirety. Revised 8/8/01.
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