                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

DRIVER EDUCATION PROGRAMS (§ 22.1-205)

A. The Board of Education shall establish for the public school system a
standardized program of driver education in the safe operation of motor
vehicles. Such program shall consist of classroom training and behind-the-wheel
driver training. However, any student who participates in such a program of
driver education shall meet the academic requirements established by the Board,
and no student in a course shall be permitted to operate a motor vehicle without
a license or other document issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles under
Chapter 3 (§ 46.2-300 et seq.) of Title 46.2, or the comparable law of another
jurisdiction, authorizing the operation of a motor vehicle upon the highways.

   1. The driver education program shall include (i) instruction concerning (a)
   alcohol and drug abuse; (b) aggressive driving; (c) the dangers of distracted
   driving and speeding; (d) motorcycle awareness; (e) organ and tissue donor
   awareness; (f) fuel-efficient driving practices; and (g) traffic stops,
   including law-enforcement procedures for traffic stops, appropriate actions to
   be taken by drivers during traffic stops, and appropriate interactions with
   law-enforcement officers who initiate traffic stops, and (ii) an additional
   minimum 90-minute parent/student driver education component as part of the
   classroom portion of the driver education curriculum. However, no student who
   is (1) at least 18 years of age, (2) an emancipated minor, or (3) an
   unaccompanied minor who is not in the physical custody of his parent or
   guardian shall be required to participate in the parent/student driver
   education component.

   2. The parent/student driver education component shall be administered as part
   of the classroom portion of the driver education curriculum. In Planning
   District 8, the parent/student driver education component shall be
   administered in-person. Outside Planning District 8, the parent/student driver
   education component may be administered either in-person or online by a public
   school or a driver training school that is licensed as a computer-based driver
   education provider. The participation of the student&#8217;s parent or
   guardian in the parent/student driver education component shall be required in
   Planning District 8 unless the student is otherwise exempted from
   participation in the parent/student driver education component pursuant to the
   provisions of subdivision 1. Outside Planning District 8, the participation of
   the student&#8217;s parent or guardian in the parent/student driver education
   component shall be encouraged, but shall not be required. The program shall
   emphasize (i) parental responsibilities regarding juvenile driver behavior,
   (ii) juvenile driving restrictions pursuant to this Code, (iii) the dangers of
   driving while intoxicated and underage consumption of alcohol, and (iv) the
   dangers of distracted driving. Such instruction shall be developed by the
   Department in cooperation with the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program, the
   Department of Health, and the Department of Behavioral Health and
   Developmental Services, as appropriate. Nothing in this subdivision precludes
   any school division from including a program of parental involvement as part
   of a driver education program in addition to the minimum 90-minute
   parent/student driver education component.

   3. Any driver education program shall require a minimum number of miles driven
   during the behind-the-wheel driver training.

B. The Board shall assist school divisions by preparation, publication and
distribution of competent driver education instructional materials to ensure a
more complete understanding of the responsibilities and duties of motor vehicle
operators.

C. Each school board shall determine whether to offer the program of driver
education in the safe operation of motor vehicles and, if offered, whether such
program shall be an elective or a required course. However, in recognition of
the fact that behind-the-wheel training is an essential school-to-work skill and
a vital step in the pathway to obtaining a driver&#8217;s license and
cultivating well-educated teen drivers, each school board is strongly encouraged
to offer as part of its program of driver education behind-the-wheel training
either during school hours or before or after school hours, including on
weekends. In addition to the fee approved by the Board of Education pursuant to
the appropriation act that allows local school boards to charge a per pupil fee
for behind-the-wheel driver education, the Board of Education may authorize a
local school board&#8217;s request to assess a surcharge in order to further
recover program costs that exceed state funds distributed through basic aid to
school divisions offering driver education programs. Each school board may waive
the fee or the surcharge in total or in part for those students it determines
cannot pay the fee or surcharge. Only school divisions complying with the
standardized program and regulations established by the Board of Education and
the provisions of &#xA7; 46.2-335 shall be entitled to participate in the
distribution of state funds appropriated for driver education.
			Each school board shall make the 90-minute parent/student driver education
component available to all students and their parents or guardians who are in
compliance with &#xA7; 22.1-254.

D. The actual initial driving instruction shall be conducted, with motor
vehicles equipped as may be required by regulation of the Board of Education, on
private or public property removed from public highways if practicable; if
impracticable, then, at the request of the school board, the Commissioner of
Highways shall designate a suitable section of road near the school to be used
for such instruction. Such section of road shall be marked with signs, which the
Commissioner of Highways shall supply, giving notice of its use for driving
instruction. Such signs shall be removed at the close of the instruction period.
No vehicle other than those used for driver training shall be operated between
such signs at a speed in excess of 25 miles per hour. Violation of this limit
shall be a Class 4 misdemeanor.

E. The Board of Education may, in its discretion, promulgate regulations for the
use and certification of paraprofessionals as teaching assistants in the driver
education programs of school divisions.

F. The Board of Education shall approve correspondence courses for the classroom
training component of driver education. These correspondence courses shall be
consistent in quality with instructional programs developed by the Board for
classroom training in the public schools. Students completing the correspondence
courses for classroom training, who are eligible to take behind-the-wheel driver
training, may receive behind-the-wheel driver training (i) from a public school,
upon payment of the required fee, if the school division offers behind-the-wheel
driver training and space is available, (ii) from a driver training school
licensed by the Department of Motor Vehicles, or (iii) in the case of a home
schooling parent or guardian instructing his own child who meets the
requirements for home school instruction under &#xA7; 22.1-254.1 or subdivision
B 1 of &#xA7; 22.1-254, from a behind-the-wheel training course approved by the
Board. Nothing herein shall be construed to require any school division to
provide behind-the-wheel driver training to nonpublic school students.

HISTORY: Code 1950, § 22-235.1; 1962, c. 482; 1966, c. 208; 1968, c. 433; 1974,
c. 154; 1980, c. 559; 1988, c. 105; 1989, c. 392; 1998, c. 96; 1999, c. 928;
2000, cc. 82, 651; 2001, cc. 659, 665; 2002, cc. 177, 386; 2003, c. 951; 2007,
c. 278; 2009, cc. 785, 813, 840; 2010, c. 663; 2011, c. 346; 2013, cc. 585, 646;
2017, c. 300; 2018, c. 521; 2020, cc. 1227, 1246; 2021, Sp. Sess. I, cc. 28, 74,
75; 2022, c. 708; 2025, c. 401.