(1) A course of study and instruction in the safe and lawful operation of a motor vehicle shall be made available by each district school board to students in the secondary schools in the state. The secondary school shall provide preferential enrollment to a student who is in the custody of the Department of Children and Families if the student maintains appropriate progress as required by the school. As used in this section, the term “motor vehicle” has the same meaning as in s. 320.01(1)(a) and includes motorcycles and mopeds. Instruction in motorcycle or moped operation may be limited to classroom instruction. The course may not be made a part of, or a substitute for, any of the minimum requirements for graduation.

(2) In order to make such a course available to any secondary school student, the district school board may use any one of the following procedures or any combination thereof:

(a) Use instructional personnel employed by the district school board.

(b) Contract with a commercial driving school licensed under chapter 488.

(c) Contract with an instructor certified under chapter 488.

(3) District school boards shall earn funds on full-time equivalent students at the appropriate basic program cost factor, regardless of the method by which such courses are offered.

(4) For the purpose of financing the driver education program in the secondary schools, there shall be levied an additional 50 cents per year to the driver license fee required by s. 322.21. The additional fee shall be promptly remitted to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, which shall transmit the fee to the Chief Financial Officer to be deposited in the General Revenue Fund.

(5) The district school board shall prescribe standards for the course required by this section and for instructional personnel directly employed by the district school board. A certified instructor or licensed commercial driving school is sufficiently qualified and is not required to meet any standards in lieu of or in addition to those prescribed under chapter 488.

History.—s. 141, ch. 2002-387; s. 1947, ch. 2003-261; s. 4, ch. 2014-166.