1.5 Licence Term, Renewal, Continuing Professional Development & Reinstatement

1.5 Licence Term, Renewal, Continuing Professional Development & Reinstatement

[!CAUTION] The single most misreported fact about this credential. Many commercial sources describe the Washington driver training instructor licence as an annual licence. It is not. RCW 46.82.320(1) states that a qualified applicant "shall be granted a licence valid for a period of two years from the date of issuance," and DOL's renewal page confirms: "You must renew your license every 2 years." The school licence, by contrast, is issued "valid for a period of one year" under RCW 46.82.310(2). Mixing the two terms is the classic error.

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Term, notice and the renewal package

RCW 46.82.320(1) also states the CPD condition at statutory level: "An application for a renewal instructor's license must be accompanied by proof of the applicant's continuing professional development that meets the standards adopted by the director." WAC 308-108-080(3) supplies the number: "For instructor's licenses that expire on or after July 1, 2007, each application for renewal of an instructor's license must be accompanied by proof of no less than eight hours of continuing professional development as approved by the director."

DOL's renewal instructions ask for "proof of 8 hours of continuing professional development that you have not yet submitted to us," which means hours already credited to a previous renewal cannot be recycled.

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The six-month boundary: renewal versus reinstatement

Two provisions in RCW 46.82.320 work together, and the boundary between them is six months.

The re-examination exemption. RCW 46.82.320(1): "An applicant for a renewal instructor's license is not required to retake the examination specified in RCW 46.82.330 to renew his or her instructor's license if his or her original instructor's license is unexpired or has not been expired for longer than six months before submission of his or her renewal application."

The void rule. RCW 46.82.320(2)(c): "If the director has not received a renewal application on or before the date a license expires, the license is void, requiring a new application as provided for in this chapter, including payment of all fees, as well as an examination subject to the exception in subsection (1) of this section."

Read together:

DOL's renewal page states the practical rule the same way: "If your license has been expired for more than 6 months, you must follow the reinstatement process," and the reinstatement steps begin with passing the required exams, then gathering documents including the eight CPD hours, then applying and paying, then fingerprinting.

Note the contrast with the school licence, which is governed by a different clock in RCW 46.82.310(4): a renewal not postmarked on or before the expiry date is marked late; if the renewal application and fee are not received within 30 days after expiry, the licence is void; and "instruction may not be given beyond the thirty days from the expiration of the license."

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Display, possession and custody of the licence

RCW 46.82.320(2)(a) places the display duty on the employer: "An employing driver training school must conspicuously display an instructor's license at its established place of business and display copies of the instructor's license at any branch office where the instructor provides instruction." WAC 308-108-120(1) repeats the point for both credentials: the school's licence and all instructor certificates "shall be posted in a conspicuous place before engaging students in a course of instruction," with an additional electronic copy provided to school customers on request.

RCW 46.82.320(3) creates a personal duty: "Each licensee shall be provided with a wallet-size identification card by the director at the time the license is issued which shall be in the instructor's immediate possession at all times while engaged in instructing." This is a separate obligation from the student's duty to have a permit in immediate possession, and it is the instructor's own to satisfy.

RCW 46.82.320(2)(b) answers the question every instructor eventually asks: unless revoked, cancelled or denied, "the license shall remain the property of the licensee in the event of termination of employment or employment by another driver training school." The credential belongs to the person, not the school.

RCW 46.82.320(2)(d): if revoked, cancelled or denied, the licence "must be surrendered to the department within ten days following the effective date of such action."

RCW 46.82.320(4): the instructor "shall notify the director in writing within ten days of any change of employment or termination of employment, providing the name and address of the new driver training school by whom the instructor will be employed."

The inactive instructor

WAC 308-108-020(9) defines an "inactive instructor" as "an instructor with a valid Washington instructor's license who is no longer employed by or otherwise associated with a licensed driver training school." The status exists because the licence survives the job. An inactive instructor still holds a valid credential and remains subject to the driving-record screens under RCW 46.82.350(8), but cannot lawfully instruct for a fee until re-associated with a licensed school, because RCW 46.82.320(1) conditions instruction on being "affiliated with a driver training school."

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Building a defensible CPD record

Nothing in rule prescribes a specific menu of CPD activities; the standard is "as approved by the director." The Traffic Safety Education Instructor Standards standard 1.3 (Professional Growth) describes the state's expectation of what those hours should accomplish:

• engage in ongoing learning through workshops, courses and self-improvement to stay current on trends in traffic safety education, technology and law;
• explore evidence-based strategies and resources for professional development;
• understand various learning and teaching styles, as well as the psychology of learning; and
• analyse and compare Target Zero goals with Washington crash data.

Practical record-keeping advice for a two-year cycle: keep certificates as they are earned rather than reconstructing them at renewal; record the date, provider, topic and hour count for each activity; and confirm before enrolling that the provider's hours are ones DOL will accept, since hours already submitted for a prior renewal cannot be counted twice.

[!WARNING] Exam traps in this section

• Two years for the instructor, one year for the school.
• Eight hours of CPD at every renewal, and they must be new hours.
• Six months is the examination boundary; the void-on-expiry rule bites immediately, but the exemption from retesting survives for six months.
• The wallet card must be on the instructor's person while instructing; the licence itself is displayed by the school.
• Ten days is the deadline both for surrendering a revoked licence and for reporting a change of employment.