U MEMO 26-09

U MEMO 26-09
February 24, 2026
Completed Driving Instructor Course Exams and Participant Names

Requester enrolled in a Department of Education (DOE) course to become a certified Department of Transportation (DOT) driving instructor to teach driving education in public high schools.  Requester completed the classroom instruction portion of the course and took an exam.  Requester made a record request to DOE for a copy of her completed exam, the names of two other classroom participants, and copies of their exams.  DOE denied the requests. 

OIP found that DOE properly withheld Requester’s exam under section 92F-22(3), Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), because the exam questions will be reused in the future.  Therefore, OIP found that the validity, fairness, and objectivity of the test would have been compromised if Requester was given the unfair advantage of previewing, studying, and duplicating her exam questions, which would not be available to the other course participants.   

OIP also found DOE properly withheld copies of the other participants’ exams under section 92F-13(3), HRS, to avoid the frustration of a legitimate government function.  Because DOE intends to reuse the exam questions in the future, OIP found that DOE properly denied the request for copies of others’ exams so it may preserve the effectiveness and fairness of its examination process for preparing driving instructors to become certified by the DOT.   

Finally, OIP found that DOE properly withheld the names of the other course participants.  Although the names of certified driving instructors are public, the two other participants did not obtain DOT certification. Therefore, OIP found that disclosing the classroom participants’ names would be a clearly unwarranted invasion of their personal privacy under section 92F-13(1), HRS.