2.4 Records, Reporting Deadlines & Departmental Inspection
Key Takeaways
- WAC 308-108-120(4) requires student records to be maintained for three years from the date instruction has ended, while RCW 46.82.360(8)(c) requires vehicle records to be kept five years following their issuance.
- Schools must report instructor traffic incidents within 10 days, traffic safety education vehicle collisions within 24 hours, and monthly student enrollment by the seventh day of each month.
- WAC 308-108-130 allows the department to require an inspection or review at any time during regular business hours, with records made available within two business days of a request.
- WAC 308-108-120(11) makes student records subject to department audit and inspection any time after 90 days of the school's initial licensing.
2.4 Records, Reporting Deadlines & Departmental Inspection
[!IMPORTANT] Why an instructor is examined on this. Under WAC 308-108-120(3), the duty to maintain individual student records falls on "driver training school owners and instructors." The instructor who conducted a session is the person whose name and signature must appear on it. Recordkeeping is not a back-office function delegated to the owner.
The individual student record
WAC 308-108-120(3) requires records on forms provided by the department, or on substantially similar forms the department has approved. For each student the record must document:
| Element | Rule |
|---|---|
| (a) Course attendance, starting and ending dates | WAC 308-108-120(3)(a) |
| (b) The dates and times for each session of classroom and behind the wheel instruction | (3)(b) |
| (c) Classroom and behind the wheel progress and time involvement or flowchart | (3)(c) |
| (d) Classroom and behind the wheel performance evaluation results | (3)(d) |
| (e) The name and signature of the instructor who provided each session | (3)(e) |
| (f) That both the student and parent received intermediate licence requirements, restriction and penalty information | (3)(f) |
Item (f) links the record to the written-policy duty in WAC 308-108-120(2)(g), which requires the school's customer policy to include information about Washington's intermediate licensing requirements, restrictions and penalties "and a place for parents to initial indicating that they have received the information."
RCW 46.82.360(8)(a) adds statutory content that overlaps but is not identical: the student's name, address and telephone number, date of enrollment and all dates of instruction, the student's instruction permit or driver's license number, the type of training given, the total number of hours of instruction, and the name and signature of the instructor or instructors. Best practice is to satisfy the union of both lists.
The school's written customer policy
WAC 308-108-120(2) requires each school to adopt and provide for its customers a written policy that includes, but is not limited to:
- (a) enrollment criteria;
- (b) student fees and student fee refunds;
- (c) course failures and course repeats;
- (d) the minimum and maximum course duration;
- (e) refusing to allow a student to attend a driver training education course before the age of 15 years;
- (f) refusing to enroll new students in a driver education course after the first three classes have been completed; and
- (g) information about Washington's intermediate licensing requirements, restrictions and penalties, with a place for parents to initial.
Items (e) and (f) are substantive rules disguised as policy topics. WAC 308-108-020(15) defines a "student" as a person enrolled in an approved course "who is at least 15 years of age," and RCW 46.82.360(3) prohibits instruction to a student under 15 outright. Item (f) is the practical bar on open enrollment, which WAC 308-108-150(6) also forbids.
School records and retention
WAC 308-108-120(5) lists school records that must be maintained for three years, including but not limited to: the school's written curriculum guide; insurance policies; collision or injury reports; traffic safety education vehicle registration records; and records of any traffic violations committed by an instructor employed by the school.
| Record type | Retention | Citation |
|---|---|---|
| Student records | 3 years from the date instruction has ended | WAC 308-108-120(4) |
| Student and instructor records | 3 years following completion of the instruction | RCW 46.82.360(8)(c) |
| Listed school records | 3 years | WAC 308-108-120(5) |
| Vehicle records | 5 years following their issuance | RCW 46.82.360(8)(c) |
The five-year vehicle-record period is the outlier and the favourite examination item.
RCW 46.82.360(8) also fixes the location: each school "shall maintain its student, instructor, vehicle, insurance, and operating records at its established place of business," and "all records shall be made available for inspection upon the request of the department."
The three reporting clocks
WAC 308-108-140(1) creates deadlines that differ by an order of magnitude, which is exactly why they are tested together.
| Trigger | Deadline | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Traffic safety education vehicle involved in a reportable collision | 24 hours | Plus an inspection report to DOL before return to service - WAC 308-108-140(1)(b) |
| Any driving or traffic-related incident involving an instructor | 10 days | Conviction for a traffic violation; a finding that a traffic infraction was committed; entry into a deferred prosecution agreement; or suspension, revocation, cancellation or denial of driving privileges - (1)(a) |
| New instructional vehicles, or vehicles taken out of service | 10 days | (1)(e) |
| Monthly student enrollment report | By the seventh day of each month | (1)(c) |
| Vehicle inspection reports on file for all vehicles | Not less than annually | (1)(d) |
| School closure notice, plus return of unused traffic safety certificates and student course completion reports | 30 days of closing | WAC 308-108-120(7) |
The monthly enrollment report under WAC 308-108-140(1)(c) must include the start and end date of any courses initiated during the reporting period with total enrollment for each; the names and certificate numbers of all instructors providing classroom or behind the wheel instruction for each course; and the names and instruction permit or driver licence numbers or dates of birth of all students enrolled, with the identifying number of the traffic safety education certificate reserved for each student.
WAC 308-108-140(2) adds an annual business-information filing at application, at renewal and at least once per year: business name; locations in standard USPS format; phone, email and website; languages in which course services are offered; course offerings including the driver training education course, adult course and course cost; and licence or endorsement test offerings. That data feeds the public interactive map DOL was required to publish under RCW 46.82.460, along with the annual course-pricing report each provider must file.
Inspection, review and audit
WAC 308-108-130 is three sentences with sharp edges:
- "The department may require that a driver training school owner submit to an inspection or review of the school's operations and records at any time during regular business hours."
- "Records shall be housed electronically or via hard copy and made available for inspection within two business days following a request for review by the department."
- "Schools will provide the department access to virtual classroom sessions upon request."
WAC 308-108-120(11) sets the audit start line: "Student records are subject to department audit and inspection anytime after 90 days of the school's initial licensing, or as soon as practicable for the department."
RCW 46.82.360(10) makes submission to periodic inspection a business practice whose breach is itself a disciplinary cause: schools and instructors "shall submit to periodic inspections of their business practices, facilities, records, and insurance by authorized representatives of the director."
The instructor's own data duties
The Traffic Safety Education Instructor Standards standard 1.2 (Data Management) states the professional expectations that sit on top of the rules: protect student information in accordance with privacy laws; implement secure data management practices; apply principles of confidentiality in all record handling; keep accurate and up-to-date records of student performance; organise and store records securely for easy access and retrieval; and identify required documents and their retention periods. Section 4.2 of this guide develops the privacy dimension.
[!WARNING] Exam traps in this section
- 24 hours for a collision, 10 days for an instructor's traffic incident, the 7th for the monthly enrollment report.
- Vehicle records: 5 years. Everything else: 3 years.
- Two business days to produce records after a request.
- 90 days after initial licensing is when student records become auditable.
- The instructor's name and signature must appear on each session record.
How long must a Washington driver training school retain vehicle records, and how does that compare with student records?
A driver training school's instructor is convicted of a speeding infraction while off duty in a personal vehicle. What reporting duty does WAC 308-108-140 impose on the school?
Under WAC 308-108-130(2), how quickly must a school make its records available after the department requests a review?