The Reporter newspaper, Camdenton Missouri

The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published June 12, 2019

Patrol releases annual school bus inspections

LAKE OF THE OZARKS – It’s that time of the year once again when the Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) performs its annual school bus inspections.

Colonel Eric T. Olsen, superintendent of the MSHP announced the results of the Driver & Vehicle Safety Division's 2019 annual school bus inspection program last week A total of 11,958 school buses across the state of Missouri were inspected by Missouri State Highway Patrol personnel during the 2019 program.

Of all buses inspected, 89.3% were approved by inspection personnel with no defective items noted during inspection. During the annual school bus inspection program, buses found to have no defective items are rated as “approved.”

Buses having one or more defective items which do not constitute an immediate danger are rated as “defective.”

Buses with a defective item which constitutes an immediate danger are rated as “out-of-service.”

Buses rated as “defective” may continue to be operated for the purpose of transporting students until repair is made.

School districts are allowed 10 days following initial inspection to repair identified defects before being re-inspected by Highway Patrol motor vehicle inspection personnel.

Buses rated as “out-of-service” must be repaired, re-inspected, and then placed back into service by Highway Patrol motor vehicle inspection personnel prior to transporting students.

Buses not presented for re-inspection within the required 10-day period are reported to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.

Statewide 2019 annual school bus inspection results are as follows:
Buses rated as “approved” upon initial inspection - 10,672
Buses rated as “defective” upon initial inspection - 962
Buses rated as “out-of-service” upon initial inspection - 324

Statistics for the lake area are:

Camdenton R-III – 100% approval rating

78 buses presented
78 buses approved
There were no defective or out of service buses

Climax Springs R-IV – 100% approval rating
10 buses presented
10 buses approved
There were no defective or out of service buses

Iberia R-V – 93.3% approval rating
15 buses presented
14 buses approved
There were no defective buses but one bus was out of service.

Macks Creek R-V – 100% approval rating
7 buses presented
7 buses approved
There were no defective or out of service buses

Miller Co R-III – 71.4% approval rating
7 buses presented
5 buses approved
2 were defective and none were out of service

Morgan Co R-I – 86.7% approval rating
15 buses presented
13 buses approved
There were no defective buses but two were out of service.

Morgan Co R-II – 100% approval rating
28 buses presented
28 buses approved
There were no defective or out of service buses

Richland R-I – 100% approval rating
6 buses presented
6 buses approved
There were no defective or out of service buses

Richland R-IV – 58.3% approval rating
12 buses presented
7 buses approved
5 were defective and none were out of service

School Of The Osage - 100% approval rating
34 buses presented
34 buses approved
There were no defective or out of service buses

Stoutland R-II – 66.7% approval rating
9 buses presented
6 buses approved
2 were defective and one was out of service

A total of 261 Missouri school districts earned the Patrol’s Total Fleet Excellence Award, obtaining an approval rating of 90% or higher with no buses placed out-of-service.

During the 2019-2020 school year, 5,540 buses in these award-winning fleets are eligible to display the Total Fleet Excellence sticker in the lower corner of the first window on the passenger-entry side of the bus.

“The Missouri State Highway Patrol works closely with schools and private pupil transportation companies to ensure our students have safe transportation to and from school-related events. This professional relationship is most evident during the annual school bus inspection and results in a successful program,” said Colonel Olson. “The annual school bus inspection program is just one way the Missouri State Highway Patrol serves and protects our children and it will remain a priority."

Missouri school bus inspection results are a matter of public record. Individual school district results are available on the Driver and Vehicle Safety Division webpage at www.mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/PatrolDivisions/DVSD/MVI/index.html