Moore County's Driver Education page

Update to Vision Testing Times
2/3/2021
Please note the time changes for the Vision Testing

Important Registration Announcement

Registration for New 2021 Classes will open on February 15 at the following times:
Pinecrest HS - 12:00 noon
Union Pines HS - 12:15 PM
North Moore HS - 12:30 PM



Process Review
2020-21

1. Monitor Dr. Ed. website for the announcement of the opening of registration for future classes. Register your student on the Online Payment System as close to the opening of registration as possible. Classes will fill up quickly. Because classes are now offered online, the school site of the class is only relevant for the final exam. If your credit card is accepted, you are registered.
2. The online instructors will contact you 3 to 5 weeks before the class begins using the phone number and email you submitted during the registration process. Please make sure this contact information is correct and check your email often in the weeks leading up to the class.
3. All of the classroom instruction will be conducted online. However, in the interest of better accountability, we will start administering the final exams in-person beginning with the January classes. You must notify the instructor if you wish to opt-out of the full class administration. One on one or small group administration will be arranged.
4. Upon successful completion of the classroom portion of the course, your student will need to be Vision tested in the Transportation Building at the Central Offices on 5277 Hwy 15-501 South in Carthage. Vision testing from 8:30 to 1:00 will normally be conducted the Wednesday following the last day of the class. Make-up vision tests are normally given from 3:00 to 4:00 on the Wednesday following the 8:30 to 1:00 session. However, please confirm the dates for Vision testing on the website as they are subject to change. You MUST present Social Security cards and Birth Certificates at the Vision testing sessions. Filling out the 800 form before you get to the vision testing site will speed up the process. Your classroom instructor can help you obtain the 800 form.
5. After the Vision test your student's Restricted Instructional Permit, the 800 form, will be scanned and assigned to a Behind The Wheel (BTW) instructor on the basis of age with older students going first. The BTW instructor will use the information you submitted on the RIP/800 form to contact you to schedule BTW. Please be sure this contact information is current and legible. We are experiencing a significant backlog of students for BTW and longer than usual intervals between vision testing and BTW assignments. We advise you not to schedule DMV appointments ahead of receiving a date for BTW.
6. After successful completion of BTW instruction, your BTW instructor will give you a Certificate of Completion AND a Certificate of Eligibility which you must get signed by your school of record attesting to your good academic standing. The DMV requires both documents.
7. If you have any questions about our process please contact the Drivers Education coordinator at 910-947-2976. Our classroom instructors only have information pertaining to their particular classes.

Vision Test Update

12/14/2020

The make-up Vision test scheduled for 1/6/2021 has been extended to 3:00PM to 5:00PM to accommodate a larger number of students unable to test on 12/16/2020 due to Exams. 

Driver Education

Update

12/10/2020 

Driver Education classroom instruction in the Plan B format, consisting of a combination of in-person and online delivery, will continue until further notice.  Classroom instructors will use phone numbers and email addresses from the online registration system to notify parents and students of log on and other pertinent information for the class. Parents are urged to update their PowerSchool data as well as this will be the fallback source for communicating course information. Homeschool students and other non-MCS students are asked to call the school where their class is being offered with their updated contact information for the instructor. Parents and students are responsible for getting accurate contact information to the classroom instructors.

DMV vision and physical screening will continue to be conducted at the Central Office in the Transportation building. Students cannot be assigned Behind The Wheel instruction until they 1) pass the classroom section and 2) pass the vision and physical screening. Parents will need to accompany their students to the vision and physical screening to present student birth certificates and social security cards and to attest to questions asked on the DMV 800 form. Limited make-up sessions will be offered at later dates. Failure to attend the vision/physical screening sessions directly following the class could result in significant delays in receiving BTW instruction and a Certificate of Completion. 

                                                     Location: Transportation Building

                                                              Conference Room

Wednesday, Feb 3rd Make-Up Session 3:00-4:00 PM

Wednesday, Feb 24th 8:30-9:30 AM Pinecrest; 9:30- 10:30 AM Union Pines; 10:30-11:30 PM North Moore.
March 3rd Make-Up Session 3:00-4:00 PM

March 31st 8:30-9:30 AM Pinecrest; 9:30-10:30 AM Union Pines; 10:30-11:30 AM North Moore.

April 14th Make-Up Session 8:30 to 10:30 AM

May 5th 8:30-9:30 AM Pinecrest; 9:30-10:30 AM Union Pines; 10:30-11:30 AM North Moore.

 

                                         

 

Restart Announcement
7/20/2020
Behind the Wheel Instruction

Pursuant to the Governor’s announcement last week that schools would reopen under Plan B, we are announcing the resumption of Behind The Wheel (BTW) instruction in our Driver Education program beginning the week of July 27, 2020. The focus of the restart will be: 
to catch up the backlog of BTW candidates created by the school closing; and
to drive students from the March classes which were interrupted midway through.
HB 158 authorizes the waiver of the remainder of those March classes as a qualifier for BTW. Students in good standing in the March Driver Education classes at Pinecrest and Union Pines High Schools are eligible to move directly on to BTW instruction. They can expect to be contacted by BTW instructors as soon as the initial backlog is caught up. This could be within the next two to three weeks. 

Guidelines
BTW guidelines from NCDHHS, NCDPI, and NCDMV for safe operations of the program have been issued. Requirements include: 
Instructors, students, and parents will wear masks and physically distance during the entire BTW activity.
Instructors will perform health screenings consisting of temperature taking and questionnaires before a student will be allowed to enter a vehicle for a driving session. Both students scheduled for the session will need to pass the screening. 
Instructors will clean vehicles in front of students before sessions and all will use hand sanitizer. This protocol will take approximately 10 minutes.
These safety protocols will require the parent/guardian to be present for the first 10-15 minutes of student drop off.
Parents/Guardians will be responsible for picking their child up on short notice if students or instructors display symptoms during a session. 

These guidelines are detailed in attached documents entitled: MCS Restart BTW Instruction Requirements, Health Screening Form, and Interrupted Session due to Symptoms. Please read them thoroughly.

Resumption of Driver Education Classes

Subject to the Board’s review and approval of the superintendent’s reopening plan, our goal is to resume classroom instruction in reduced class sizes and under all safety protocols of the opening plan. Please monitor this website for further updates.  

                                                  June 25, 2020 Update

The following is a Driver Education update from an NCDPI Webinar held on 6/22/2020 and following the Governor's announcements on June 24, 2020:

1) We have not received definitive guidance from the Governor's Office or NCDPI at this point for resuming either in-person classroom or BTW instruction. We understand that this guidance is forthcoming and imminent.

2) There are still two main blockages in the student permit system which impacts the decision to resume classroom instruction: the inability or significant reduction of our ability to conduct BTW training  and the inability of DMV to administer driving tests. Our fear is that resuming instruction, online or otherwise, before these blockages are cleared could result in greater than usual delays between the Dr. Ed. classroom learning and BTW instruction from us and driver testing from DMV. We do not want to create situations in which a majority of students do not receive BTW instruction for 3 to 5 months after the classroom portion of the course.

3) We are participating in the rollout of NCDPI's Canvas based online Driver Education curriculum and will actively monitor local readiness to open that program up. 

4) The plan to offer first right of refusal to the next available classes to students enrolled in canceled classes remains in effect. Students and parent will be contacted via their PowerSchool contact number. Non Moore County Schools students will need to contact the Driver Education coordinator to ensure their position in the queue is acted on. 













Restart Update 
                                           June 2, 2020

The following is a Driver Education update from an NCDPI Webinar held on 6/2/2020:         
1) Both In-Person and Behind The Wheel classes are still on hold                      pending guidance from numerous stakeholder groups.
2) The State is currently working on a digitized curriculum that                        will be delivered virtually through Canvas. No timeline has been                      given for its release at this point.  
3) Emphasis is being given to eliminating the backlog of students                      scheduled for BTW instruction.
4) A Systematic Restart Plan is being developed but we do not as                      yet have a timeline for its implementation.  

Locally the following applies:
1) ALL CLASSES currently on the calendar have been canceled. 
2) Fees paid for classes in March, April, May and June will be                          honored and enrollees given first right of refusal based                                      on the date and time of their original registration for the next                          classes we are able to schedule. Example: students from the                              interrupted March classes will be given first access to the next                          scheduled classes followed by April enrollees, May enrollees and                      then June enrollees.
3) When we get the final dates for rescheduled virtual or in-person                    classes we will announce them on this website and enrollees will                        be notified and given their choices of classes via phone calls to                          their PowerSchool contact numbers.
4) The restart of BTW instruction will be announced on this                              website along with the special conditions and requirements for                          its delivery.
 












Restart Update
                                                 5/12/2020

The following is a Driver Education update from an NCDPI Webinar held on 5/11/2020:

1) There is currently no projected date for the resumption of                              Driver Education classes or Behind The Wheel (BTW)                                        instruction.

2) Our points of emphasis at the restart will be to eliminate                                opportunity gaps and inequity and to specifically reduce the                              backlog of students waiting for BTW instruction which                                      predicts that we might open BTW instruction before                                          classroom instruction.

3) Restart will be contingent on the Governor's approval,                                  DHHS guidance, and coordination and approval of DMV.

4) Students and instructors will be allowed to postpone their re-                        engagement with Driver Education as they see fit without                                  penalty.

5) Expect that BTW will be subject to very strict health                                      guidelines to be enumerated by DHHS including                                                temperature taking before each session, masks worn by all                                participants, multiple mandatory hand washings and the like.

6) Credit will be given for prior instruction such that                                          instruction will resume from where it ended. No need to                                      restart from the beginning of a class or BTW session.

7) Virtual instruction may be an option via courseware                                      developed by NCDPI. We will know more about this by the                              end of May.  

Thank you for your patience in these very trying times. Everyone in the school hierarchy including the legislature appreciates the critical need Driver Education fulfills and they are pulling out the stops to get this program back up and delivering again.


                                                       Update
                                                       4/8/2020

The previously announced registration date of 4/13/20 for summer classes has been postponed indefinitely until we get a firm date for the re-opening of school. Be assured that all students currently enrolled in canceled classes will have first right of refusal for the next available block of classes. Stay tuned and keep your chins up! We will get through this!

What We Know Through May 15, 2020

Covid-19 has disrupted all facets of education in ways we could never have imagined. That being said there are some near term takeaways for Drivers Education from the Governor’s most recent extension of school closures through May 15, 2020.

1. The general rule is that Drivers Education tracks regular school: if school is in session, Drivers Education is in session; if school is suspended, Drivers Education is suspended.
2. All previously scheduled classes through May 15 are cancelled subject to rescheduling when schools reopen. 
3. All enrollments and fees paid will be honored! Those enrolled in the cancelled classes will be given their choice of the next available classes or a refund from the school hosting the class in which they were enrolled.
4. The same procedure will apply if it becomes necessary to cancel June classes.

The situation is obviously fluid at this point, but we will do our best to keep you informed. Please check back with this site frequently   

 

 

ALL Drivers Education activity (classroom instruction AND Behind The Wheel instruction) will be suspended during the period of the recent Moore County School closures due to the Covid-19 virus. In general, Drivers Education follows the status of regular school classes: when school is closed, Drivers Education is closed. We will resume Drivers Education when school re-opens. We will announce any further changes in class schedules as soon as we are able. Thank you for your patience.
 

 

                                       !SPECIAL REGISTRATION ANNOUNCEMENT FOR SUMMER CLASSES!
PINECREST:  SUMMER CLASSES REGISTRATION WILL GO ONLINE 12 NOON APRIL 13, 2020.

UNION PINES: SUMMER CLASSES REGISTRATION WILL GO ONLINE 12:30 PM APRIL 13, 2020.

 

  NOTE  AS CLASSES BECOME FULL THE CLASS DATES BELOW WILL BE RED

To participate in Moore County Schools Driver Education students 14 1/2 (on the first day of class) thru 18 (must be under 18) must register online or submit a Fee Waiver application(see "register" section).  Also, students MUST be enrolled in school in Moore County, whether public school, private school, home school, or charter school.  Or, students must live in Moore County. (We are funded based on enrollment in the above types of schools)

Please be advised that we do not accept "walk-ins" and there is no "wait list". In the rare event that there are last minute openings, they are given to students who need special consideration as specified by law. 

We are often asked why we do not offer more classes. We offer enough classes to meet the needs of our student population and simply cannot afford to offer classes that are not full. You should start planning when a student is near 14-1/2 years of age. Consider extra curricular activities as well when planning.  Contact coaches and other after-school activities supervisors to avoid scheduling conflicts.

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The information on this site is broken down in three sections: 

	Pinecrest (PC)	Union Pines (UP)	North Moore (NM)
	Dates in red indicate the class is filled. Black dates = upcoming schedule of classes.
April	April 6-9	April 6-9	April 6-9
May	May 4-15	May 4-15	May 4-15
June	June 15-18	June 15-18	June 15-18
June	June 22-25	June 22-25
July	July 6-9	July 6-9
July	July 13-16	July 13-16
July	July 20-23
July	July 27-30
August	August 3-6	August 3-6

 

General Information
The first day of class at PC and UP starts at the cafeteria. During the traditional school year, classes run for 3 hours and begin 15 minutes after school dismisses. Call the school for the dismissal time if you are in a private school or are home schooled as dismissal times vary by school.

**Summer and Spring break Addendum Information
Classes are scheduled from 8:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., Monday – Thursday.  Bring lunch and snacks and pencil/paper.
First day of class starts at the cafeteria.
Students from all schools can register for any class scheduled above.

Instructor will need to see Social Security card and certified birth certificate before a student can take the driving portion of Driver Education.

Students may miss no more than 3 hours of class time. Missed time must be made up during next class.  Multiple times may be missed but not more than 3 hrs. total.

Class Schedules are subject to change. If the schedule is changed, the scheduled school will make an announcement or instructor will notify students. Classes are not held on early dismissal days, teacher workdays or if school activities are canceled because of inclement weather or other unforeseen circumstances.