My home state had a permit for that too, certain vehicles I could drive on certain roads under restrictive speed limits. So I could, like, drive a tractor or farm truck with the right license plates down county roads to another field.

That was separate from a school permit. The nearest school bus stop to me was miles away and didn't go directly to my school so I would have spent 3+ hours per school day on multiple buses if I hadn't been able to drive myself in. Not to mention sports on weekends and other stuff where the normal school day bus wasn't running. My permit restricted the hours I could drive, it had to be to or from school or jobs, and I couldn't give anyone rides other than siblings. I think I wasn't supposed to drive on the interstate too.