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MDOT Motor Vehicle Administration

Drivers Education Meeting Minutes – 3/18/26

Driver's Education Providers |

Bulletin: All Drivers Education Owners and Instructors 
From: Business Licensing & Compliance 

Purpose

To provide meeting minutes from our Drivers Education meeting held on 3/18/26.

Summary

Attendees:  

MVA - Chrissy Nizer, Nikki Charlson, Natasha Jones, Kristin Orlando-Dillahunt, Melody Miller, William Kraft, Derrick Thomas 

Drivers Education – Chris Ertel, April Jackson, Kelly Sisk, Sasheen Maple, David Resnick 

Open Items: 
 

  • MVA Tasks -
    • Can a refund policy include a non-refundable deposit if a student withdraws from the program last minute?   
      • This is currently under review, and we will send out our decision once the discussions have concluded.
    • Annual Report - The industry would like more clarity to define what is a financial assistance program.
      • We are working on this and will send out this updated definition once completed.
    • Missing class clarification questions - Clarification requested on whether the student is allowed to take the final exam if they have an outstanding class that has been missed.
      • MVA Response: A student can take the final exam before the student makes up a missed class, but a school can only submit a certificate of completion if the student: (1) completes the entire program and (2) has a passing score on the final exam.
    • Can we redo the BTW evaluation since we just redid the classroom curriculum?
      • We will have the Instructor Trainers working group review and update these evaluations. 
         
  • Drivers Education Industry Tasks -  
    • 3-Hour Roadway Safety Program Exam Languages – Provide the specific questions that students are having consistent issues with so we can review and see if any changes need to be made.
    • Missing class clarification questions
      • We asked for specific scenarios to discuss how each one should be handled.
    • Required Minimum of Driving School Business Hours - Discussion about the hours and what exactly would be the appropriate amount.  
      • The attendees said they would give us their suggestion once they reviewed the proposed regs.
  • Topics Discussed:
  1. Revised Driver Education Curriculum - Update on the status of the revised curriculum review, including completion of the plain language review, Spanish translation, and any anticipated rollout timeline. Is a pilot program still being considered?  
    1. The Power Point presentation is finalized in English and is currently being translated to Spanish. Creation of an instructor guide is currently underway, which will also need to be translated when complete.  
    2. Requesting to pilot before we translate to Spanish – to ensure that the content is where it needs to be.
      1. We will ask a few driving schools to pilot the new program before we send the instructor guide for Spanish translation.  
  2. MDID Lookup Tool - Update on the request for a portal function allowing schools to check whether a student already has an MDID number before submitting a request.  
    1. Currently there is not a process that would give schools access to this information while at the same time protecting the security of our systems.
    2. We will continue to look into this to see if the feasibility is there.  
  3. Proposed Changes to COMAR 11.23.01 - Update on publication in the Maryland Register and the anticipated public comment timeline.  
    1. We have sent a copy of proposed changes to both association’s Presidents and one non-association member to review and provide feedback before we submit for publication and public comment.  
    2. Once that review is completed, the regulatory updates will be sent for review for legal sufficiency by the Attorney General’s office. After that review and sign off is when the proposed changes will be published and open for comments.  
    3. We will send out a bulletin when they have been published.
  4. Instructor Training / Apprentice Instructor Program Review - Update on the planned 2026 review and whether a working group has been formed.  
    1. This will be reviewed after the BTW Program has been evaluated.  We will work with the Instructor Trainers as a working group as they will fill a critical role in the design and implementation of any changes just as they did for the driver's education curriculum.
  5. 3-Hour Roadway Safety Program Exam Languages - Follow up on whether the final exam could be offered in additional languages.  
    1. The program is currently offered in English and Spanish, and the final exam is available in both languages.  
    2. Industry asked for the test to be offered in all languages that we offer the Learners Permit test. We explained the fiscal impact of this request, but in the meantime, we will review questions driving schools find students have the most trouble with and see if there’s another way to phrase the question.
    3. We asked meeting attendees to provide us with the questions students consistently have issues with, and we will review the way these questions are posed to see if any changes need to be made.
  6. Can the driver education program be broken into two programs - a classroom program and a behind-the-wheel program?  This would allow students to enroll in a school whose classroom program best fits their needs and a school whose behind-the-wheel program best fits their needs.  This would prevent students from having to withdraw from the first school and transfer to the second school and requiring the first driving school to process a refund for the student.  
    1. Under Transportation Article 16-503(a)(1) schools are required to offer the complete program to all eligible individuals. Students can elect to transfer to another school anytime they wish to do so. If a school offered classroom only, it would leave students with the burden of finding BTW elsewhere.  
    2. In response to a question about whether driving schools can put on their website a price for the Classroom and the BTW portions of their program, we advised them that this was permissible since the school is still offering the complete program.   
  7. Compliance inspectors are telling driving schools that the only approved refund policy is the example included in the January 5, 2026, bulletin (15%-85%).    
    1. The refund policy in the January 2026 bulletin is an example.  A school’s refund policy does not need to mirror the example in the bulletin.   
  8. Can a refund policy include a non-refundable deposit if a student withdraws from the program last minute?   
    1. This is currently under review, and we will send out our decision once the discussions have concluded.  
  9. A student requests additional behind-the-wheel hours, but the school where they took the required driver education program cannot accommodate the request.  The student purchases behind-the-wheel hours from another school.  Is this considered a "transfer" to the other school?     
    1. No, it is not a transfer.  
    2. If a student withdraws from one school to attend another for the purpose of completing the driver education program, it is a transfer.    
  10. Annual Report – discussion on whether MVA has regulatory authority to require this information in the Annual Report.
    1. Since members of the General Assembly requested information on the usage of financial assistance policies, we would like this information to respond to these inquiries.  Current regulations require a policy be in place for financial assistance, and the proposed changes to regulations include requesting additional information
    2. The industry would like more clarity to define what a financial assistance program.  
  11. Potential COMAR Review Committee - Consider whether the MVA would be open to establishing a small working group consisting of MVA personnel and several driving school representatives to review proposed COMAR changes prior to publication in the Maryland Register. The objective would be to improve communication, identify operational concerns earlier, and reduce misunderstandings once regulations enter the formal 30-day public comment process.    
    1. Moving forward, we will send the COMAR suggested changes to each Association President and one non-association member to review before we submit to our Attorney General's office for final review.  
  12. Discussion of whether the current alphabetical provider listings on the MVA website can be modified to use a randomized or rotating display.
    1. This listing is in chronological/alphabetical order. We are not aware of the lift this would be for our listing to be displayed in any other way. The display for drivers’ education providers are the same for all businesses in our system, and we are not able to modify just one view for one program.
    2. The randomization of these listings will require review for feasibility.   
  13. Authority to regulate Driving School Business Hours
    1. Discussion about the hours and what exactly would be the appropriate amount. The attendees said they would give us their suggestion once they reviewed the proposed regulations.  
  14. Clarification on Electronic vs Handwritten Signature requirements -
    1. Do we accept an electronically signed document?  Can Docusign, for example, be used?  
      1. Yes, and yes.
  15. Whether a driving school offering a last-minute practice before a drive test is governed by COMAR 11.23.01 or 11.23.02.    
    1. If this practice driving is a refresher of what was taught during the BTW lessons for Driver's education, this would fall under 11.23.02.  
  16. A request to convene between quarterly meetings to discuss and address additional topics and who might attend these meetings.
    1. We explained if there were just follow-up questions needed between the Drivers Education meetings, an email would suffice to allow for response to any outstanding questions.
    2. If an additional meeting is being requested, you can send an email requesting that meeting along with agenda items you would like to discuss.   
  17. Are schools allowed to retain their records for more than the 3-year minimum requirement?
    1. Yes, you can retain your records for longer than 3 years as long as you are consistent and maintain all of your students’ records for the same timeframe. There is no maximum records retention, only a minimum record retention policy.  
  18. Missing class clarification questions – Current regulations allow students to miss up to 4 classes (12 hours) and continue in the classroom program.
    1. We asked for specific scenarios to discuss how each one should be handled. Planned vs unplanned examples-
      1. Planned vacation- The student knew when they registered for class that they would be able to attend the first week of one session and the 2nd week of another session.
      2. Unplanned – missing more than 4 sessions of classes without any prior discussion with the school to discuss their plan for course completion.
    2. Clarification requested if the student is allowed to take the final exam if they have an outstanding class that has been missed.
      1. A student can take the final exam before the student makes up a missed class, but a school can only submit a certificate of completion if the student: (1) completes the entire program and (2) has a passing score on the final exam.
  19. Can we redo the BTW evaluation since we just redid the classroom curriculum?
    1. This has been discussed and we will make this our next priority for upcoming projects.  
    2. We will include the Instructor Trainers working group to review and update these evaluations.  
  20. Requesting blanket approval of items on the current MVA website to utilize in their classroom instruction without having to request individual requests for each item.
    1. Content on MVA’s and Vision Zero’s websites can be used without prior approval.  


If you have any question, please contact us at [email protected].