How to Open a Driving School
Texas driving schools have changed quite a bit over the past few decades. Opening a driving school can be a fairly seamless process if you have patience, you understand the process, and have the follow through!
Texas driving schools may offer classroom instruction, behind-the-wheel training, or both. Based on the clientele in your neighborhood, some models may work better than others. It will be up to YOU to create the program which best meets your needs and those of the people in your potential market. For a consultation to help you decide a business model to fit your goals, go here and we’ll help you set up a time to speak to one of our experts.
How to open your driving school in Texas
Schools must have licensed instructors. The actual owner does not have to be licensed but it is recommended by CTDS. To become a licensed driving instructor in the state of Texas through our program, click HERE.
Schools need to be licensed. You will need to fill out the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation paperwork (it is in our Driving School Start Up paperwork! as well as on the TDLR website) and send them a check along with the other listed requirements.
Your location may not be operated exclusively out of your home—you must have an office in a separate location. If you are running classes out of your location (teens, adults, driver safety, etc.), you must have a separate classroom. State rule requires that the classroom and front office be separated by a wall and door. You must have a chair and desk (or table) available for each student. We recommend that driving schools stay current so each classroom should contain a computer with an overhead projector or BIG screen TV so that the curriculum and videos can be viewed. All schools should also have internet capabilities so that required videos are shown. Students should have either books or overhead items (ie powerpoints or slides) to represent the content. Our face-to-face classroom curriculum meets this requirement.
You will need to retain student records for at least three years following the end of instruction. The records should consist of the contract, a teacher signed classroom log, the behind the wheel log, and DPS Handbook Test. Of course if a student does not enroll in part of the items listed, those documents do not need to be in the records. Your records can be in hard copy format or digitally. If you keep your documents digitally, we recommend that everything is backed up on a server that is monitored and routinely backed up as well! All records must remain on site for a minimum of 1 year and they must be available on or off site for another 2 years!
You must have written contracts with students - We have provided samples in our Driving School Start Up Paperwork!
Texas allows driving schools to teach the state-required curriculum; students under 18 must have 32 hours of classroom instruction, 7 hours of observation time in a vehicle, and 7 hours behind-the-wheel. You can become an affiliate driving school with us and use our classroom curriculum by going HERE. There is an initial member fee and then a maintenance fee every year following that. We keep up with the changes in state requirements so that you don’t have to! When a change is needed, we will make it and provide you the documents to sign and send off to the state!
You may offer the 6 hour adult course for new drivers aged 18-24+. You can use our Module 1 classroom curriculum to teach this course as well!
You may offer the 6 hour adult course in Spanish as well. That curriculum is coming soon!!!!
Many students and parent are opting to go through Parent Taught Drivers Education. This does not mean they are lost customer to you! You can become an affiliate driving school with us! We can provide you a personal link to XLR8DrivingSchool.com that you can place on your website! A student would then register on our website through you. You would then get a 46% return! Another option would be to provide coupon codes from us. Contact Tonya for more information about this option!
Driving School Licensing and Requirements
General requirements
To operate a driving school in Texas, you will need to be licensed by the state. Licenses are valid for 1 year from the date of filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation (TDLR) . Applications must use the Departments forms, which are found on their website and are also included in our Driving School Start Up Paperwork.
Your application packet must include:
A completed application form
A bond in the amount of $10,000 plus $5,000 per branch.
A staff roster.
A copy of the insurance declarations pages noting coverage for those vehicles.
The motor vehicle fleet form.
A school course list.
Your curriculum if you have created your own. For ease of use, you can become an affiliate school with us and use our classroom curriculum HERE.
When obtaining insurance for your building and vehicles, you MUST disclose that the insurance is for commercial use!
Driving Instructor’s License
In order to obtain an instructor’s license, you must:
Hold a high school diploma or the equivalent.
Possess a valid driver’s license which has not be revoked or suspended in the past three years.
Submit to a national criminal background check, and provide fingerprints to the Texas Department of Public Safety. This will be done when you submit your documents to Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation.
Driving instructors have a variety of titles in Texas.
15 semester hours of driver education training (210 clock hours) for a “supervising driver education teacher” title (ST), or
9 semester hours of driver education training (135 clock hours) for a “driver education teacher” title (DET), or
6 semester hours of driver education training (90 clock hours) for a “teaching assistant” title (TA)
Location
Your location and facilities must be approved by the TDLR before you open. Your space must be appropriate for your offerings, and comply with local and space zoning, housing, and safety ordinances. You must have fire extinguishers that are valid.
Classrooms must provide adequate space for students, and no class may hold more than 36 students. Adequate lighting and comfort, as well as writing facilities, are required. Your school should not be located in a building which houses a business which either requires exclusion of persons because of age or is adult-oriented–or a bar.
You will have to provide notice of the name, mailing address, and phone number of the Department in case of complaint. It should be on the contract and the complaint form must be posted in a public place. We’ve included the form in our Driving School Start Up Packet.
You will need a secured area in which to store certificates of completion. All completion certificates (DE 964s and ADE 1317s) must be stored in a locked file cabinet.
Records and Contracts
You will need to keep student records for at least three years. For one year, they must remain at the site of instruction. Thereafter, all records may be kept in any location accessible to the school owner. You will find all of the record keeping documents in our Driving School Start Up Packet.
You must have written contracts with your students. The contract must contain a range of information which adequately describes the contract between the school and student.
The Driving School Curriculum in Texas
Texas mandates the specific topics covered by the curriculum for every driving school, both for the in-class as well as the behind-the-wheel portions of driver’s education. You are, of course, free to add information.
Instruction is limited to five hours per day, and classroom instruction may not exceed 4 of those 5 hours (if 2 of the hours are a make-up class). The 2 hours of direct in-car instruction may occur one time per student.
Your Texas driving school must have a makeup lesson policy which meets the following requirements:
In-class makeup sessions must cover the same lesson missed by the student.
Students may miss up to 5 days and they can make up those days through homework. Our CTDS classroom curriculum and daily work can be used to fulfill these requirements.
Texas Driving School Classroom Instruction
Your classroom course must last for at least 32 hours, and your course must be organized as follows:
You are allowed 5 minutes’ break for each hour, and no more than ten minutes of break can be accumulated (thus you could offer a 4-6 pm session with a 10 minute break).
You may have no more than 36 students in a given section of the class (although you could have two separate sections running consecutively or at the same time if you have a second classroom).
Videos, recordings, guest speakers, and other media may take up no more than 640 minutes of class time. Powerpoint slides or other similar presentation media, including the curriculum we provide are instructional aids and thus do not count as restricted media.
Self-study assessments may be used, but may take up no more than 25% of class time, and must be administered to all students together.
Behind the Wheel Driving Instruction in Texas
If you are providing a DE 964 (completion certificate for your behind the wheel program), your in-car phase of instruction must include 7 hours of student driving behind-the-wheel and 7 hours of in-car observation. You may provide one-on-one in-car instruction, but parents may opt-out freely. If you are offering a student private lessons only, teen students must be enrolled in an approved parent taught behind the wheel program and their parents must complete the initial 14 hours with them. You can become a CTDS affiliate school and purchase coupon codes for our XLR8 Drivers Education Behind the Wheel Program HERE.
In addition, students will need to complete an additional 30 hours of driving, including 10 at night, with a licensed supervising adult who is at least 21 years old and has held a driver’s license for at least one year. You will find a 30 hour log in the Driver Education School Start up Packet. Parents will fill out this form and they will use the final date to complete the bottom area of their child’s DE 964.
