Quarterly Driver Education Meeting: Summary of April 23, 2024, Meeting

To: All Driving School Owners and Operators 
From: Business Licensing and Compliance Division

Purpose

Below is a summary of the April 23, 2024, meeting with representations from DEAM, MPDEA, two representatives of the driver education industry not associated with either association, and MVA representatives. This reflects the topic of discussion and any outcome of that discussion.

Summary

• Quarterly Meeting Attendance
  • Attendees Allowed
    • The number of attendees will be considered and indicated in the meeting announcement. We will continue to re-evaluate after each meeting.
  • Administration Representatives
    • Representatives from Leadership in Business Licensing & Compliance will attend all meetings.
  • BTW Tracking
    • Process Security
      • Concerns about the security of the data being submitted were addressed. We:
        • Required the entry of a unique identifier to the online form. A school’s unique identifier is its business license number unless requested otherwise. If you wish to use a different identifier, please let us know.
        • Added a notification if an entry is made with an inaccurate school identifier.
    • Compliance
      • Schools failing to submit data have been issued a warning letter. If there is no response to the warning letter, administrative sanctions may be imposed.
    • Actions for Noncompliance
      • Failure to report
        • Have any fines been imposed? No fines have been assessed to date but are authorized and may be imposed for failure to report.
      • Exceeding 18 weeks
        • Starting May 1st, we collect data specific to the 18-week requirement. (Previously, we collected aggregate data for both the 18-week requirement and other hours (e.g., hours for transferred students.)) We will keep you informed as the data is not available to report at this time.
      • Explanation of plan of correction
        • If a plan of correction is requested, the school must provide a detailed description of the operational changes that will be taken to reduce the outstanding BTW hours owed. This includes the “who, what, where, when, and how” of the changes that will be made,
    • Concerns with proposed format
      • As concerns arise, please report in the comment sections of the form and we will address concerns as appropriate.
    • Potential for errors
      • We are working on a report to reflect data entry errors and will provide it once it is available. If we receive an error message related to an incorrect school identifier, we will reach out to the school(s) involved.
  • Virtual Instruction
    • Number of students transferring
      • This is not data we previously tracked or received.
    • Number of complaints filed by students (54) - Data from January 2024-current
      • 35 relate to a case involving one driving school.
      • 4 related to refund issues.
      • 1 related to student intimidated by instructor.
      • 7 related to obtaining copies of records.
      • 2 related to scheduling issues.
      • The remaining 5 complaints were from individuals who did not respond when we contacted them to research the complaint.
  • Instructor Training, Licensure, and Certification
    • Listing of instructor trainers
      • Available via the E-Services Portal
    • Paths for licensure- Regulatory changes, training, and testing requirements for split licensure.
      • Instructor Training and Certification is a project due to commence Q1 of 2025.
    • Standardized Instructor Training curriculum
      • Update on Working Group Progress
        • Currently reviewing Unit 5 of 10. Anticipated completion is Q4 of 2024.
    • Instructor Termination Form
      • This is no longer a valid form. A school can report that an instructor was terminated for violating COMAR via the portal or in writing to the Business Licensing Division.
  • 3 Hour Alcohol and Drug Education Program
    • Process for certification
      • Creation of MDID Numbers
        • Time Delays
          • Driver Services promptly processes requests received during business hours (typically within 10-15 minutes of receipt). Requests received 
            at the end of the business day will be processed the next business day.
        • Administrative Workload
          • Manageable workload currently with present staffing. Will continue to evaluate as this process progresses.
        • Continuance of Paper Certificates
          • This process is still an option.
        • Change to ADEP Curriculum to include Rules of The Road
          • The content of this program is defined in Transportation Article, §16-212.1. Adding “rules of the road” to this program would require a legislative change. If interested in changing the content of this program, please reach out 
            to your State Senator or Delegate.
        • Improve ability to change licensing paths from GLS to ADEP
          • It is already possible for an individual who mistakenly enrolled in the GLS process to convert to the ADEP process, but this is largely dependent upon how far along they are in the process. This is a Drivers Services area, and 
            they should be contacted for these individuals.
  • Status of Website Listings of Providers
    • We are working to update the website listing for the Education Provider Lookup tool. The website currently allows a user to search without using a filter. This results in a provider who serves multiple counties being listed multiple times. We are working on a solution 
      where users will be required to use a filter (e.g., county) before starting their search. With this change, a provider will only be listed once in the search results.
  • Manuals, Publications, Correspondence, and Forms
    • Bulletin sent out to industry listing the forms that would be print on demand only and not held at warehouse.
      • Bulletin - Online printable forms - Update.pdf (maryland.gov)
    • Why were the MVA Drivers Education manuals in black and white?
      • We were in between orders; some internally were printed in black and white until we received our order from MCE. We will no longer print manuals starting July 1st. Manuals will be available on our website. If interested in a QR code for your business to access the manuals directly, please reach out and we can have a poster of the QR code sent to you once available.
    • Changes to forms or publications- submit any suggestions and we will review as they come in and correct as needed.
    • We do not allow creation of other forms; however, you can create an exact duplicate in electronic format. Any form created must be approved by the Administration.
    • Road Ready App is offered as an alternate to the log in the Rookie Book. Many people prefer electronic formats. This is just a suggestion but not mandatory. 

If you have any questions, please contact us at 410-787-2952 or [email protected].