MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2007 Regular Session
To: Education
By: Representative Fleming
AN ACT TO REQUIRE PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO COMPLETE A CERTIFIED DRIVER EDUCATION TRAINING PROGRAM AS A CONDITION FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION; TO AMEND SECTION 37-25-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE ALL SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN DRIVER EDUCATION AND TRAINING PROGRAMS; TO AMEND SECTION 37-25-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REQUIRE SCHOOL DISTRICTS TO PRESCRIBE REGULATIONS ESTABLISHING WHEN STUDENTS ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICIPATE IN DRIVER EDUCATION AND TRAINING; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. In addition to all other requirements for graduation prescribed by the State Board of Education and local school boards, a student must successfully complete a certified driver education and training program as a condition for graduation from a public high school in Mississippi.
SECTION 2. Section 37-25-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-25-3. The school board of every school district shall establish and maintain driver education and training programs for pupils enrolled in the * * * secondary schools in that district.
SECTION 3. Section 37-25-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
37-25-7. Each school district * * * shall prescribe regulations establishing when a student is eligible to receive instruction in the driver education and training program. The regulations must require, at a minimum, that any student receiving instruction under this chapter shall be:
(a) Fourteen years of age or above;
(b) A regularly enrolled student in the ninth, tenth, eleventh or twelfth grade; and
(c) A full-time student in the respective secondary school.
Any driver education student under fifteen (15) years of age shall secure a learner's permit issued by the Department of Public Safety which shall be valid only while the student is under the direct supervision of a driver education instructor and is actually enrolled in an approved course of driver education which consists of thirty (30) hours of classroom and six (6) hours of dual driving instruction. The learner's permit shall expire at the end of the driver training course. The Department of Public Safety shall charge a fee of One Dollar ($1.00) for the issuance of a learner's permit.
SECTION 4. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2007.