To be licensed, all schools must have at least one instructor, so be sure you or an employee meets the requirements for instructor. You may undertake preliminary planning and paperwork while obtaining your license or while your employee obtains his. You may not open a school nor advertise the school until it is licensed. All SBTS forms may be obtained from the main School Bus & Traffic Safety Section office, other forms must be provided by the school or instructor.

When selecting a location for your school bear in mind the requirements set forth in the Rules. You may want your DES to meet you at the location to assure both that it does meet the requirements prior to finalizing a lease or deed agreement. The DES will return later to conduct a formal inspection of the classroom and office, and will forward this to the Raleigh office to become part of the application for license. It is the school's responsibility to contact the DES for an appointment for inspection.

Every school must have at least one vehicle; all vehicles must meet the requirements set forth in the Rules. Each vehicle must be listed in the school application along with insurance information. Each vehicle must be inspected and approved by a DES prior to being used in BTW training. It is the responsibility of the school to contact the DES for an appointment for inspection. A SBTS sticker will be affixed to all vehicles approved at inspection, both initially and upon annual inspection.

The school may begin the training of drivers once it has a licensed instructor, an inspected and approved vehicle, and a license for the school.

After an instructor applicant has completed class, he may apply for license. Preliminary paperwork may be filled out prior to completion of class to expedite the licensing. Once licensed he may begin instructing at the school for which he is licensed. The initial license is a temporary learner's license. Within ninety (90) days of issuance he must be observed a minimum of two hours instructing in the classroom and two hours instructing BTW by a DES. If the 90 days lapse without satisfactory observation and recommendation, he may apply for a thirty (30) day extension. He may not, however, instruct during the time he awaits the extension, as he is not legally licensed at that point. If satisfactory observation and recommendation is still not achieved, the Driver Education Coordinator in the Raleigh SBTS office will decide the next course of action based on the situation. When a DES recommends an instructor for licensing, he will send the required form to SBTS in Raleigh, who in turn send the school the instructor's license, which will then expire the same date as the school's license.