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Board hears committee warning that DMV rules could sharply reduce drivers‑ed and bus staffing
Summary
A Cleveland County Schools committee told the board that new Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) policies and changes to DOT physical requirements could cut the district's pool of certified drivers-instructors and threaten bus-driver availability, and the safety committee asked the attorney for an opinion on DMV training restrictions.
Members of the Cleveland County Schools safety and operations committee warned the full board on Monday that recent DMV policy changes threaten the district's ability to train new driver's education instructors and could sideline bus drivers through stricter DOT physical requirements.
The committee reported a shortage of instructors for driver's education, with staffing at roughly half of the usual levels. "We have 8 instructors and normally we have 14 or 15," a committee presenter said, noting the DMV currently accepts only private businesses for instructor certification, not school system employees.
The committee unanimously supported asking the North Carolina Attorney General for an opinion on whether DMV policy can be interpreted or changed to allow school system employees to take the certification class.
Committee members also described a change to how DOT medical certifications will be enforced. "What the DMV wants to do is suspend that person's license for 6 months," Daniel Howell said, warning that a suspended certificate would force drivers to repeat training and could remove a driver from service for nine months to a year.
Board members and committee staff discussed operational impacts: fewer drivers means fewer driver's-education seats for students and reduced bus staffing. Committee members flagged that there are a limited number of physicians certified to perform DOT physicals and that the current scheduling and certification cadence is creating a bottleneck.
No board action was taken at the full session beyond the committee's report; the committee recommended the attorney-general request be circulated to other committees and advance to the full board for a vote at the next meeting.
The committee also reported related safety and training activities, including rapid deployment training for school staff and law enforcement and continued pursuit of federal safety grants to fund communication systems and equipment.
The report stressed this is a statewide DMV policy issue rather than a local staffing choice and advised the board it could affect student and transportation services in the coming school year.
