TRANSPORTATION MATTERS for IOWA

Process moving along for parent-taught driver education



Image003A new law passed by the 2013 Iowa Legislature in House File 215 will allow parents who home school their children to teach driver education in certain circumstances. The law requires the Iowa DOT to develop rules for approved courses suitable for parents who home-school. Once courses have been identified and approved, they will be posted on the Iowa DOT’s website.

 

The Iowa DOT is currently drafting the rules for parent-taught driver education, and expects the process to be completed by the end of the summer.

Parents who home-school may not begin driver education instruction until the rulemaking process is complete. Until this is done, a child must complete an approved driver education course through a public/private high school or a private driver education program. 

Here’s how the rulemaking process works.

The Iowa DOT uses the legislation as a basis to develop the process to be followed by home school parents and students.

The process is documented and the appropriate forms are developed. Forms will include an application to provide parent-taught driver education; a driving log; and a certificate of course completion and certification.

Part of the process includes the parent using a certified driver education course. There are several commercially available Internet-based courses. The Iowa DOT is currently in the process of identifying which of these courses would meet Iowa’s driver education curriculum guidelines. Once the courses are identified, they will be added to the Iowa DOT’s website. Parents will be able to choose the course they wish to use.

A website will be developed to assist parent-taught driver education families in navigating the system.  Some information is already available at http://www.iowadot.gov/mvd/ods/education/teachingparent.html.

Here are a few basic guidelines from the new law.

A “teaching parent” is a parent, guardian, or legal custodian of a student that is currently providing competent private instruction to the student according to Iowa Code sections 299A.2 or 299A.3. To qualify, the teaching parent must have been serving as a teacher to the student during the previous year. 

The teaching parent must have a valid driver’s license. The driving record of the teaching parent must be clear for the previous two years. A parent who has only a motorized bicycle (moped) license or a temporary restricted license (work permit) will not be able to provide driver education instruction to a student. 

A student is someone between the ages of 14 and 21 years and has obtained a learner’s permit from the Iowa DOT. 

The law requires the teaching parent to have custody of the student.

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