Investigators at the Department of Licensing tell me that an instructor at the 1st Time Driving Academy in Auburn was unlicensed to teach classes but continued to do so for at least seven months.
"During that time he should not have been performing in the classroom," department spokesman Brad Benfield said. "He should not have been instructing students. What we found was a lot of documentation that indicates that he was."
I first told you about 1st Time Driving Academy in November. We helped Maple Valley's Hayden Bodine get his driving certificate months after he passed the class.
"There's no reason why I shouldn't have it," Devanni Bodine told me. "My daughter took this very same course and the night she passed the test she got her certificate in hand."
After blaming an employee, 1st Time Driving Academy's owner, Dan Barker, came through with Hayden's certificate. But in this current case, the state says Barker should have known his instructor's status.
"Yes absolutely, a school is responsible for making sure all of their employees are following the rules," Benfield added.
So here's how to check if you're getting a properly licensed instructor: Go to the Web site of the Department of Licensing and click on business or professional license and search for drivers' training schools. It's pretty easy.
As for 1st Time Driving Academy, their instructor faces a possible one-year suspension and a $400 fine. They have 20 days to appeal.
Finally the state says it will honor the certificates from the kids who took classes from the school.
"Our investigation is not complete. We have aspects of it we have not closed, I can't disclose the details of those, but this case is not closed."
The owner did not return any of the messages we left looking for his side of the story. Now the Department of Licensing says timely renewals are important because instructors must submit to fingerprinting and criminal background checks.
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