Rockingham County School System offers Driver Education free of charge to all public, private, charter and home schooled students who are eligible. A student must be at least fourteen and a half years of age to enroll in Driver Education.

 The program is designed and dedicated to help the students gain a basic understanding of how to operate a motor vehicle safely. It will help prepare the student for the Behind-the-Wheel Instruction and eventually the North Carolina driver’s license exam requirement.

The Driver Education program consist of two parts:

  Part I: 30 hours of classroom instruction
  Part II: 6 hours of Behind-the-Wheel training.

Classroom Instruction

These 30-hour classes will be held after the school day has ended, on Saturdays, and during the summer.
     The requirements for this classroom instruction are:

• Must be 14 ½ years old
• Must be enrolled in a school
• Must have original social security card or an ID card from DMV
• Must be present for 30 hours of instruction. A student may make-up a total of 4 hours if absent
• Must leave the campus immediately after the class has been dismissed.

Behind-the-Wheel Training

Students are scheduled to complete this part of Driver Education. The student cannot be scheduled for this until he/she has completed the classroom instruction. A student must complete 6 hours of Behind-the-Wheel Training.

Schedule

In order to find out when the Driver Education classroom sessions are scheduled you may call the Driver Education Coordinator in the high school where the student attends school. The Coordinators are:

McMichael High School  – Frank Sparks– 336-427-5165
Morehead High School  – William Barnes – 336-627-7731
Reidsville High School   – Teddy Jones – 336-349-6361
Rockingham Co. High School  – Woody Wall – 336-634-3220

North Carolina Graduated License Laws

Level One – Limited Learner’s Permit

• Must complete Driver Education
• Must be 15 years of age but less than 18 years of age
• Must pass written, sign and vision tests
• All passenger must be restrained by seatbelts or child safety seat
• No one except the driver and the supervising passenger are allowed in the front seat
• First 6 months authorized the student to drive only between the hours of 5:00a.m. and 9:00p.m.
• During second 6 months there is not time restraints

Level Two – Limited Provisional License

• Must be 16 years old, but less than 18 years old
• Must have proof of insurance, Form DL-123
• Must pass the road test
• Before graduating to this level, the student must have had a permit(Level One) for 12 months and have no moving violations or seat belt infraction within the proceeding 6 months
• All passengers must be restrained by seat belt or child safety seat
• Only one person under the age of 21 may be in the car when the student is driving.
• Exception: sibling may ride in the car however, no other person under 21 may then ride

Level Three – Full Provisional License

• Upon completion of 12 months with a limited Learner’s Permit (Level One) and 6 months of driving with a Limited Provisional License(Level Two) and no violation or seat belt infraction, the student is eligible to receive a Full Provisional License (Level Three)
  
• All passengers must be restrained by seat belt or child safety seat.

How To Obtain a Level One – Limited Learner’s Permit

• Certified Copy of Birth Certificate
• Social Security Card
• A Driver Education Certificate
• A Driver Eligibility Certificate – This certificate may be obtained from the SIMS operator or the guidance secretary at the high school where the student attends school. This certificate is good for 30 days. To receive a Driver Eligibility Certificate the student must present the following:
  • An original or certified copy of the student’s birth certificate
  • Social Security Card
  • A Driver Education Certificate
• An application for a Learner’s Permit must be signed by both the student and another person. That person must be the student’s parent or guardian if the parent or guardian resides in North Carolina and is qualified to be a supervising driver. In all other circumstances that person must be an adult approved by DMV
• Supervising Driver must be a parent or guardian of the permit holder or license holder if a parent or guardian signed the application for the learner’s permit. If a parent or guardian did not sign the application, the supervising driver must be the adult who signed the application. A supervising driver must be a licensed driver who can prove he/she has been licensed to drive for at least 5 years
  
• Driver License Offices are located in Eden, 336-623-6528; Madison, 336-427-0478; and Reidsville, 336-634-5608

A Student Losing Driving Privileges

North Carolina law mandates that students under 18 years of age may have their learner’s permit or license revoke for the following reasons:

• Dropping out of school
• Failure to pass 3 out of 4 courses in a semester

Parents will be notified of the revocation of the learner’s permit or drivers license and will have the option of requesting a waiver based on a hardship. Parents will be given 10 days to return a Hardship Form and provide documentation to support the request.

Lose Your Cool, Lose Your License

North Carolina law allows for the suspension of a student’s permit or license for a period of one year for the following reasons:

• The possession or sale of an alcoholic beverage or an illegal controlled substance on school property
• The possession or use on school property of a weapon or fire arm that resulted in a disciplinary action under G.S. 115C-391(d) or that could have resulted in a disciplinary action if the conduct had occurred in school
• The physical assault on a teacher or other school personnel on school
  property