Program Information

ODOT Safety Driver Education Class

We accept any student from any district as long as they are 15 with a permit. The Oregon City Driver Education class is a safety course.  This class is to teach your student how to be safe in the car, this is not a class that teaches your student how to drive. Your student must have 10-15 hours of practice driving with an adult once they receive their permit prior to attending our class.

Program Requirements for Registering 

  • Your student must have a minimum of 10-15 hours of drive experience after obtaining their permit before our safety classes begin.

  • Driver Education Program is for students age 15-17

  • Must have a current Oregon instruction permit at time of registration. (Must have received plastic permit from DMV in the mail)

  • At time of registration must provide permit number, expiration date and issue date.

  • 100% attendance in the classroom and drive lab is required.

  • Complete the course before receiving a driver's license and before turning 18.

Program Information 

The program is approved by the Oregon Department of Transportation and includes:

  • 30 hours of classroom instruction

  • 6 hours of behind-the-wheel instruction

  • 6 hours of in-car observation

  • While enrolled in our class a minimum of 5 hours home supervised driving is required with a licensed adult driver. You will document this on this Home Supervised Drive Log.

  • Parents are expected to practice with their student, the routes in-between their scheduled drive labs. This is the only way to reinforce what the program has taught in the classroom and behind the wheel.

  • Classroom and Drive Lab Schedule. See Calendar Link.

  • Read Policies

Classroom Location 

Held at Oregon City High School in the Presentation Room F112.

Drive Lab Information: Fall, Winter, Spring (Refer to summer driver ed calendar for summer schedule)

  • At time of registration you will be given classroom day option and the drive lab option

  • Drive lab begins on Week 2 of classroom. Drive Labs are once a week for 6 weeks during the 10-week of classroom.

  • Cars are located in the north parking lot of Oregon City High School near the D-E entrance

  • Drive lab will begin and end at OCHS.

  • Student must arrive 5 minutes before their scheduled drive lab.

  • Student must attend all scheduled drive labs.

Driver Ed cars are located in the North Parking Lot

 First entrance into parking lot when heading south on Beavercreek.

Student Cell Phone Use in Driver Ed Vehicles

The driver education program has a no-tolerance policy on student cell phone use in driver education vehicles. Students must store their cell phone in the center console of the driver education vehicle during their scheduled drive lab. 

Students, please remember to retrieve your cell phone out of the console after the drive lab.

Classroom Absences

  • Classroom absences should only be if you are ill.

  • All absences are required to be made up. Make-up sessions will not require an additional fee if they are fulfilled during regularly scheduled class times. To schedule the makeup class please communicate with the classroom instructor.

  • Students who do not meet the requirements will need to re-register and pay an additional full-term registration fee to receive the Certificate of Completion.

  • HOW TO SCHEDULE Classroom Absence - email Driver.Education@orecity.k12.or.us

Behind the Wheel Absences

  • Only a parent is allowed to cancel the drive lab if the student is ill. The cancellation must be at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled drive lab.

  • Illness will require an automatically re-scheduled drive lab with no fee if drive instructor is notified via phone (text or verbal) at least 24 hours prior. Parent needs to verify that the instructor has received the absence.

  • Your student has a drive partner in addition to the instructor so please be courteous and show up on time to each drive lab. Cancelling last minute puts the drive partner and instructor in a difficult situation. All drive labs are mandatory per ODOT. The charge of $100 stated above has to be charged so that an additional drive lab can be scheduled and the instructor can be paid additional to what their contract states if the proper procedure is not followed.

  • Drive lab attendance is extremely important because your student has a drive partner and our policy is not to drive with one student alone.

  • The student must be on time with a permit and ready to drive or the drive lab will need to be rescheduled with a $100 make-up fee. ($120 make-up fee summer term due to 3 hour drive lab)

  • If your student does not attend school that day due to illness, email driver.education@orecity.k12.or.us to notify classroom instructor. Other unavoidable circumstances with advance notice will be left up to the discretion of classroom and/or BTW instructor and/or program coordinator.

Refund

Less than two weeks prior to start of program, no refund.  More than two weeks prior to start of program, $50.00 retained by the Oregon City Driver Education program. 

How to Obtain Your License

ODOT has eliminated the requirement of passing out certificate of completion cards to students who have passed the ODOT Approved Driver Ed program.

DMV2U will now have your students’ information in their database when your student is eligible to go pick up their license from DMV.

Please follow this very important rule: 

There is a full 5 day waiting period from the date of your students' last day of the program.
If you go earlier than the 5 days, they will not have the information in their database. 

Failure in the Classroom or Behind-the-Wheel

Students must attend all of the classes and any missed time must be made up. They must turn in all assignments; turn in the driving log; and pass all class work, tests, and drive tests with an 80% or better. Disruptive students may be dropped from the program with no refund. If a student has a learning disability, we will help in any way, but they must be able to demonstrate understanding and knowledge of the curriculum. Behind the wheel students must be able to meet or pass the checklist.

Funding

Funding for the Drivers Education program comes from two sources: students' tuition and reimbursement from the Oregon Department of Transportation. The local school districts do not fund the program, but classroom space is provided free of charge.

Drivers Over 18 or Turns 18  / Obtain License While Taking Class  

The driver education program is a state-subsidized program and that is how we can offer a tuition price of $400.00. This tuition price is only for students with permits and not for licensed drivers. If a student has a license, obtains their license while taking the class, or is 18 or older before completing the class, the tuition will be $610.00.

Driver education is a part of the process for obtaining a provisional license (permit). 18 year old do not have to have a provisional license. That is why the state does not subsidize the driver education program if the student is 18 or older or licensed.

Guest Speakers

Pacific Seafood brought one of their delivery trucks to OCHS to the summer driver education classes.
The students got to climb into the driver's seat and see first-hand what the driver actually sees from his mirrors.  All the students were surprised at how far back the driver education car was behind the Pacific Seafood truck and still could not visually see the car but only the shadow of the car.  

The transportation manager at Pacific Seafood then came into the classroom and spoke to the class about being responsible safe drivers around trucks on the highways and roads. The students asked some great questions and the first-hand experience was a true learning experience!  Thank you Pacific Seafood! 

OCSD Driver Education Program also has the following additional guest speakers:  

  • Oregon City Police Department

  • Trauma Nurse with Legacy

  • Municipal Court Judge of Oregon City