The Neelyville R-IV School District saw an increase in its annual school bus inspection score by nearly 10 percentage points.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol released inspection results last month, scoring Neelyville at 73.3 percent.
"I'm happy we improved from last year, but obviously our goal is to have 100 percent," Neelyville Superintendent Brad Hagood said.
While Hagood agrees 73 percent is not "real good," he assures the community the district is not putting students on unsafe buses.
The district presented 15 buses for inspection with 11 being "approved," three being scored as "defective" and one "out-of-service."
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" and 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 the initial inspection to repair identified defects before being reinspected by Highway Patrol motor vehicle inspection personnel.
Buses rated as "out-of-service" must be repaired, reinspected and placed back into service by Highway Patrol motor vehicle inspection personnel prior to transporting students. Buses not presented for reinspection within the required 10-day period are reported to the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
According to Hagood, the first bus was deemed "defective" because when setting the parking break and putting the bus in gear, it would hold, but not to the Highway Patrol standard.
The second bus, which Hagood described as the oldest bus in the district's fleet, had not been in operation since the recent purchase of another small bus. It was deemed "defective" due to a high beam indicator which was not bright enough.
The third bus had a faulty window emergency exit buzzer and a tire rod that hit the bottom of an axel.
The bus which was deemed "out-of-service" was due to the bus starting while the emergency door was locked, Hagood said.
"Although 74 percent doesn't look that great, it's the little things like buzzers and lights that can make the numbers lower," Hagood said. "It's not major mechanical issues."
Hagood went on to say while buzzers and lights are important, when just looking at the numbers with no explanation, it can appear the students are on unsafe buses, which is not the case.
"Since before I became superintendent and for sure since I have been superintendent, if we have anything mechanically wrong with a bus we do not transport kids on that bus until it has been repaired," he said. "We will pull that bus until the issue is rectified."
Hagood credits the increased score to preventative maintenance checks performed by mechanic Tony Eakins.
Eakins, who has been with the district for 19 years, is working to put a schedule in place for weekly checks on the district's fleet.
"I am hoping by getting on a schedule, it will make a big impact on getting to 100 percent," Hagood said.
He also added drivers performing pretrip checks and reporting issues immediately for Eakins to address would help the district reach its goal.
A total of 12,018 school buses across the state of Missouri were inspected by Missouri State Highway Patrol personnel during the 2018 program. Of all buses inspected, 90.6 percent were approved by inspection personnel with no defective items noted.
A total of 281 Missouri school districts earned the Patrol's Total Fleet Excellence Award, obtaining an approval rating of 90 percent or higher with no buses placed out-of-service. During the 2018-19 school year, 6,532 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 annual school bus inspection program is one way the Missouri State Highway Patrol serves and protects our children. This program is a success because the Highway Patrol, Missouri's schools, and private pupil transportation companies make transporting students safely a priority," said Col. Sandra K. Karsten, superintendent of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. "I appreciate the positive and professional working relationship our agency shares with these professionals."