Missouri Highway Patrol releases annual school bus report

School buses wait Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, for students to board them at the end of the school day at Thorpe J. Gordon Elementary School in Jefferson City.
School buses wait Tuesday, Aug. 25, 2020, for students to board them at the end of the school day at Thorpe J. Gordon Elementary School in Jefferson City.

The Missouri Highway Patrol recently released its annual school bus inspections report for 2020.

The Jefferson City School District had 93 buses, including 81.7 percent that were approved, 14 percent that were defective and 4.3 percent that were out of service. Last year, all but three of Jefferson City's 76 buses were approved, or about 96 percent, according to last year's report.

The Blair Oaks R-2 School District in Wardsville and Cole R-5 School District in Eugene had lower passage rates.

Blair Oaks had 21 buses, including 76.2 percent that were approved, 23.8 percent that were defective and none that were out of service. Eugene had 11 buses, including 72.7 percent that were approved, 9.1 percent that were defective and 18.2 percent that were out of service.

Overall, 10,539 school buses in Missouri were rated as "approved," 1,030 were rated as "defective," and 259 were rated as "out of service," which is a passage rate of slightly more than 90 percent.

According to the report, which was released Aug. 11, defective buses require repair within 10 days, and buses that are out of service require repair before further usage.

A total of 258 Missouri school districts earned the patrol's Total Fleet Excellence award this year, including the Eldon R-1 School District, Maries County R-1 School District in Vienna, Jamestown C-1 School District, Missouri School for the Deaf in Fulton, South Callaway R-2 School District and Southern Boone County R-1 School District in Ashland.

The awards went to districts with a passage rate of at least 90 percent and no out of service buses. Eldon R-1, Jamestown C-1, Missouri School for the Deaf and South Callaway R-2 had 100 percent approval rates.

The Cole R-1 School District in Russellville was close to receiving this award. The district had a 90 percent passage rate with no defective buses, but 10 percent were out of service.

During the 2020-21 school year, 5,594 buses can display the Missouri Highway Patrol's Total Fleet Excellence sticker on the passenger entry side of the bus, according to the report.

Inspection results for other Mid-Missouri school districts include:

Eldon R-1: Among 30 buses, 100 percent were approved.

Fulton 58: Among 33 buses, 81.8 percent were approved, 18.2 percent were defective and none were out of service.

Jamestown C-1: Among five buses, 100 percent were approved.

Kirchner State School: Among five buses, 40 percent were approved, 40 percent were defective and 20 percent were out of service.

Maries County R-1 (Vienna): Among 12 buses, 91.7 percent were approved, 8.3 percent were defective and none were out of service.

Miller County R-3 (Tuscumbia): Among seven buses, 57.1 percent were approved, 42.9 percent were defective and none were out of service.

Missouri School for the Deaf (Fulton): Among eight buses, 100 percent were approved.

Moniteau County R-1 (California): Among four buses, 75 percent were approved, 25 percent were defective and none were out of service.

Moniteau County R-5 (Latham): Among four buses, 75 percent were approved, 25 percent were defective and none were out of service.

Morgan County R-2 (Versailles): Among 26 buses, 100 percent were approved.

New Bloomfield R-3: Among seven buses, 85.7 percent were approved, none were defective and 14.3 were out of service.

Osage County R-1 (Chamois): Among six buses, 83.3 percent were approved, none were defective and 16.7 percent were out of service.

Osage County R-2 (Linn): Among 17 buses, 64.7 were approved, 35.3 were defective and none were out of service.

Osage County R-3 (Fatima): Among 24 buses, 58.3 percent were approved, 29.2 percent were defective and 12.5 percent were out of service.

South Callaway R-2: Among 17 buses, 100 percent were approved.

Southern Boone County R-1 (Ashland): Among 20 buses, 90 percent were approved, 10 percent were defective and none were out of service.

St. Elizabeth R-4: Among eight buses, 75 percent were approved, 12.5 percent were defective and none were out of service.

School bus inspection criteria, including a listing of Missouri's out-of-service criteria are available at mshp.dps.missouri.gov/MSHPWeb/PatrolDivisions/DVSD/MVI.