Over the past several years the California Department of Education (CDE), office of School Transportation (OST) has seen a significant increase in the number of instructors who have been delinquent in their required training hours (Education Code Section 40089). Additionally, there has been a significant increase in the number of instructors that have allowed the following to expire:
- Medical Examination (Vehicle Code Section 12517.2) including the DL-51 medical card
- California Special Driver Certificate (Vehicle Code Section 12517)
- First Aid Qualification (Vehicle Code Section 12522)
- Commercial Driver License (Vehicle Code Section 15210)
Beginning July 1, 2009, the state certified instructor will be required to send a copy of the credential(s) to the CDE,OST within 30 days upon any of the following:
- Renewal
- Upgrade
- Downgrade
- Name Change
In addition, the state certified instructor will be required to submit a completed COPY of the most current CDE Training Form T-01 (T-01 card) at the end of each training period. Upon renewal of the California Special Driver Certificate, the state certified instructor will be required to submit the completed CDE T-01 (T-01 card) (ORIGINAL ONLY, copies not accepted) to the CDE, OST, 825 Riverside Parkway, Suite 110, West Sacramento, CA 95605.
If it is determined that a state certified instructor is delinquent in any of the training periods, the CDE, OST will require the instructor to complete make-up training within 60 days. If the instructor fails to complete the required make-up training, the instructor will become "invalid".
The CDE, OST believes this new policy will help to ensure there are no lapses in certificates or delinquencies in training. The CDE, OST policy states that when an instructor permits any one of their credentials to lapse they become "invalid" immediately and shall remain "invalid" until they re-certify through CDE, OST. There is no grace period for instructors.
It is important to know that during the time that an instructor is "invalid" all Education Code required classroom instruction, behind-the-wheel training, or training documentation on a California Department of Education Form T-01 will also be invalid and rejected by the California Highway Patrol.
An "invalid" instructor must take the following steps to re-certify with CDE, OST:
- The instructor must fill out the most current instructor application posted on the OST Web site (fill in only those portions that pertain to re-certification)
- Submit the completed application to CDE, OST
Upon application approval the OST area coordinator will contact the applicant and coordinate the re-certification process. An "invalid" instructor cannot participate in Education Code required classroom instruction, behind-the-wheel training, or perform any required documentation until the instructor re-certification process has been completed.