Verification Of Enrollment

Driver License Attendance Verification
For a student between the ages of 16 and 18 to obtain a driver license, written parental
permission must be provided for the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) to access the
student’s attendance records and, in certain circumstances, for a school administrator to provide
the student’s attendance information to DPS. A verification of enrollment (VOE) form may be
obtained from the office, which the student will need to submit to DPS upon application for a
driver license. This verifies the student’s attendance for 90 percent for the semester a course was offered. Information is based on the previous semester. There is a 24 hour turnaround time for this document for verification and signature purposed. If not in compliance a VOE will not be issued.

Planned Use of Data: To provide documentation of enrollment and attendance status to the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for a student applying for an instruction permit and/or a license to operate a motor vehicle. The student presents the completed form to DPS. DO NOT return this form to the Texas Education Agency.

Authority: The Texas Transportation Code (TRC) requires students who have not obtained a high school diploma or its equivalent to be enrolled in a public, charter, home, or private school; GED Program; or Institution of Higher Education and meet specific enrollment conditions to obtain or renew a license. This requirement applies to persons under 18 years of age.

Contacts: Contact local DPS driver license office or DPS Headquarters website: www.txdps.state.tx.us and e-mail: pio@txdps.state.tx.us (512-424-2000) or Texas Education Agency website: www.tea.state.tx.us and e-mail: nina.saint@tea.state.tx.us (512-463-9574).

Issuing VOE Forms: SEE flow chart for issuance at http://www.tea.state.tx.us/safedriver/voe04.html. The issuance or denial of the VOE form is strictly a local school, charter, GED program, or institution decision. Neither TEA nor DPS can alter a VOE decision. Schools, Charters, GED programs, and institutions of higher education can impose and enforce conditions and restrictions on enrollment and attendance as it pertains to VOE eligibility that exceed minimum restrictions defined by law and rule. It is recommended that schools, charters, GED programs, and institutions of higher education clearly outline all requirements for issuance of the VOE form and establish a formal, published policy to support the requirements. The VOE form does not have to be signed by the student in the presence of the person certifying attendance. The signature of the student can be placed on the form before or as it is presented to DPS. NOTE: Texas Education Code 25.092 (excerpted), Minimum Attendance for Class Credit, states that a student may not be given credit for a class unless the student is in attendance for at least 90 percent of the days the class is offered. The 90 percent attendance rule applies when determining VOE eligibility. Schools can accept decisions of attendance committees when considering VOE eligibility. Summer school does not count as make-up time for attendance purposes unless the attendance committee makes summer school attendance a part of a student’s plan to make up days missed. For students in grades eight and below, absences may be aggregated on the basis of a scholastic year. For students in grades 9-12, absences may be aggregated on the basis of a scholastic semester (traditional, condensed, accelerated, block, etc.). The student should be considered eligible for the VOE form when 1) the school considers the student currently enrolled at the time the student applied for the VOE forms AND 2) the school awarded a student credit for each class the semester prior to application for the VOE form OR the student was not awarded credit for each class the semester prior to application for the VOE form (academic failure). The school examines attendance records for the semester prior to application for the VOE form and determines that the student was present 90 percent of the time each class was offered OR the student was absent more than 10 percent and did not meet the 90 percent attendance rule for one or more classes the semester prior to application for the VOE form. The school attendance committee and/or administration approve a plan to allow the student to reinstate the credit for all classes. The student complies with the plan and credit for all classes the semester prior to application for the form is reinstated.

A student must meet one of the following requirements to receive the VOE form. The individual certifying attendance verifies on behalf of the school, program, or institution the following as true and correct by marking the appropriate box and affixing a legal signature to this form.
THE VOE DOCUMENT IS A GOVERNMENT RECORD AS DEFINED UNDER TEXAS PENAL CODE, 37.01(2). ANY MISREPRESENTATION BY THE APPLICANT OR PERSON ISSUING THE FORM MAY RESULT IN DENIAL OF AN APPLICATION FOR A TEXAS DRIVER’S LICENSE AND/OR CRIMINAL PROSECUTION