Carpoolers in Conn. spared licensing

The Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles says despite what an insurance company claims, parents who drive students to school events or field trips don’t need a special license.

The issue came up when the Greenwich and Norwalk School district were told that under state regulations, parents, teachers and other school officials who drive children in their own cars to extracurricular activities would need to obtain a commercial driver’s license. That statement had come from the Connecticut Interlocal Risk Management Agency, the insurer for Greenwich and Norwalk.

“We turned to our attorney, who agreed (with the insurer),” Salvatore Corda, Norwalk’s school superintendent said.

“We called the DMV and they said ‘that’s the law.'”

Next they approached State Sen. Robert Duff, D-Norwalk, for help. He in turn contacted DMV.

Duff released a letter he received from Sharon Geanuracos, the DMV’s motor vehicle regulations adviser. Geanuracos wrote that as long as parents are not under contract to provide the transportation, they are not required to obtain a special license.