School permits available in city limits

A change to the school permit requirements now allows 14-year-olds who reside in city limits to drive to and from school. 

According to the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) website, a school permit can be issued if a person resides outside a city of 5,000 or more or attends a school outside a city of 5,000 or more.

The requirement is somewhat misleading, as it does not address the City of Grant, population 1,200. 

The previous school permit law, which required a student to live a distance of 1.5 miles or more from the school he or she attended, no longer applies.

The current law, which went into effect April 6, 2016, removed the mileage requirement. 

Senator Curt Friesen of District 34, who introduced the bill, said the distance requirement caused a lot of ambiguity when it came to determining who qualified.

“Do you measure from the person’s driveway to the parking lot of the school or to the nearest part of the property of the school?” he asked.

He also gave examples of rural areas where students were walking on gravel roads to school because they only lived 1.25 miles from the school, which created safety concerns. 

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The Grant Tribune-Sentinel

308-352-4311 (Phone)

PO Box 67
327 Central Ave in Grant
Grant NE 69140