(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, a private school is not required to offer courses in driver education or driver training.

(b) This section shall not be construed to require a private school to offer automobile driver education that meets the requirements of this chapter unless the private school requests the Department of Motor Vehicles to issue a certificate of satisfactory completion form.

(c) For purposes of subdivision (j) of Section 51220, Section 51220.1, and subparagraph (A) of paragraph (3) of subdivision (a) of Section 12814.6 of the Vehicle Code, the satisfactory completion by a pupil of an Internet-based, correspondence, or other distance-learning course in automobile driver education offered by a private secondary school satisfies the driver education instructional requirements of those provisions and the Department of Motor Vehicles shall issue certificates of satisfactory completion forms if all of the following conditions are met:

(1) The private secondary school has a current affidavit or statement on file in compliance with Section 33190.

(2) The private secondary school utilizes the Department of Motor Vehicles’ driver education curriculum developed under subdivision (f) of former Section 12814.8 of the Vehicle Code for providing the automobile driver education course, or the private school certifies to the Department of Motor Vehicles that the curriculum used is educationally equivalent to the Department of Motor Vehicles’ curriculum.

(3) All certificates issued to a private school by the Department of Motor Vehicles shall remain under the exclusive control of that school. A school shall only issue a certificate to a student who is enrolled in the private school, and has successfully completed a driver education course offered by that school.

(4) All course curriculums contain the school name, school address, and telephone number.

(5) Internet web pages or CD courses are reasonably secure and protected from unauthorized access, modifications, or extraction of confidential data.

(6) Test questions for Internet and CD courses are secured and randomly extracted to safeguard from copying.

(Repealed and added by Stats. 2005, Ch. 314, Sec. 2. Effective January 1, 2006.)