Driver Education Program
105 ILCS 5/27-23 and 27-24.2 of the School Code requires
each school district which maintains grades 9 through 12 to
offer a driver education course which is defined as both classroom
and behind-the-wheel. The state administrative rules which
govern school district Driver Education programs can be accessed
at Part 252
Driver Education. 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 the 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 2 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) or chief school
administrator (with respect to a student attending a non-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.
The driver education course must consist of 30 clock hours
of classroom and 6 hours of behind the wheel training. 105
ILCS 5/27-24.3 allows school districts to adopt a policy to
permit proficiency examinations for the practice driving part
of the driver education course at any time after the completion
of 3 hours of practice driving under direct individual instruction.
The district may charge a reasonable fee, not to exceed $50,
unless the district has received an approved waiver from the
Illinois State Board of Education. If a student is unable
to pay for the course, the fee shall be waived per 105 ILCS
5/27-23.
Driver Education reimbursement for school districts is formula
driven and is calculated annually by the State Board of Education,
Funding and Disbursement Services Division. Per PA 94-0440
signed into law on August 4, 2005 payments are distributed
quarterly and calculated based on the number of students each
school district reports to the State Board who have completed
classroom and behind the wheel from July 1 to June 30 of each
year. ISBE reimburses districts for up to one pass or two
attempts of classroom instruction and one pass or two attempts
of behind-the-wheel instruction with behind-the-wheel instruction
being reimbursed at a higher rate than classroom instruction.
The base reimbursement amount shall be a weighted calculation
by dividing the total state appropriation each year by:
- the number of classroom students times .2, and
- the number of students completing behind-the-wheel training
times .8
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