PRINTER'S NO. 36
No. 56 Session of 1999
INTRODUCED BY MAYERNIK, HERSHEY, YOUNGBLOOD, STABACK, MARKOSEK,
BARRAR, READSHAW, SCHULER AND GIGLIOTTI, JANUARY 20, 1999
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION, JANUARY 20, 1999
AN ACT
1 Amending Title 75 (Vehicles) of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
2 Statutes, requiring school attendance as a condition for
3 operating privileges.
4 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
5 hereby enacts as follows:
6 Section 1. Title 75 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated
7 Statutes is amended by adding a section to read:
8 § 1507.1. School attendance as condition for licensing.
9 (a) General rule.--In addition to the requirements of
10 section 1507 (relating to application for driver's license or
11 learner's permit by minor), the department shall not issue a
12 driver's license or learner's permit to any person 17 years of
13 age or younger who does not, at the time of application, present
14 a diploma or other certificate of graduation issued to the
15 person from a secondary high school of this Commonwealth or any
16 other state, or documentation that the person is:
17 (1) enrolled and making satisfactory progress in a
18 course leading to a general educational development
1 certificate (GED) from a State-approved institution or
2 organization, or has obtained a certificate;
3 (2) enrolled in a secondary school of this Commonwealth
4 or any other state; or
5 (3) excused from the requirement due to circumstances
6 beyond his control.
7 (b) Duties of attendance officer.--The attendance officer or
8 chief administrator of a school shall, upon request, provide
9 documentation of enrollment status on a form approved by the
10 Department of Education to any student 16 years of age or older
11 who is properly enrolled in a school under the jurisdiction of
12 that official for presentation to the department on application
13 for or reinstatement of a driver's license or learner's permit.
14 Whenever a student 16 years of age or older withdraws from
15 school, except as provided in subsection (d), the attendance
16 officer or chief administrator shall notify the department of
17 the withdrawal. Within five days of receipt of notice, the
18 department shall send notice to the licensee that the license
19 will be suspended on the 30th day following the date the notice
20 was sent unless documentation of compliance with the provisions
21 of this section is received by the department before that time.
22 (c) Withdrawal.--For the purposes of this section,
23 withdrawal shall be defined as more than 10 consecutive or 15
24 total days' unexcused absences during a single semester. For the
25 purposes of this section, suspension or expulsion from school or
26 imprisonment in a jail or a penitentiary is not a circumstance
27 beyond the control of the person.
28 (d) Circumstances beyond control.--Whenever the withdrawal
29 from school of the student or the student's failure to enroll in
30 a course leading to or to obtain a GED or high school diploma is
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1 beyond the control of the student or is for the purpose of
2 transfer to another school as confirmed in writing by the
3 student's parent or guardian, no notice shall be sent to the
4 department to suspend the student's driver's license or
5 learner's permit, and, if the student is applying for a driver's
6 license or learner's permit, the attendance officer or chief
7 administrator shall provide the student with documentation to
8 present to the department to excuse the student from the
9 provisions of this section. The school district superintendent
10 or the appropriate school official of any private secondary
11 school, with the assistance of other staff or school personnel,
12 shall be the sole judge of whether the withdrawal is due to
13 circumstances beyond the control of the person.
14 Section 2. This act shall take effect in 60 days.
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