Annual school bus safety inspection results released by the Missouri State Highway Patrol show that 16 area school districts earned a perfect 100% initial approval rating.
The findings are part of the statewide 2026 school bus inspection program announced by patrol Superintendent Col. Michael A. Turner. Mechanics with the patrol's Driver and Vehicle Safety Division inspected more than 11,000 buses across the state, initially approving 10,239 vehicles. An additional 849 buses were flagged as defective, and 283 were placed out of service due to immediate safety hazards.
Buses with no defective items are rated as "approved." Vehicles with minor flaws not considered an immediate danger are rated as "defective" and are given a 10-day window for repairs. Buses with serious defects are immediately placed "out-of-service" until they are repaired and reinspected.
To earn the patrol's Total Fleet Excellence Award, a district must achieve an initial approval rating of 90% or higher with no buses removed from service. Statewide, 287 districts earned the award, making 6,148 vehicles eligible to display the excellence sticker.
Local Excellence Honorees
Sixteen districts within the Quill’s coverage area achieved perfect 100% initial approval scores during the 2026 inspections. Two local honorees maintained perfect records with substantial fleets of 20 or more buses: West Plains R-7 passed with all 28 buses approved and Willow Springs passed with all 20 buses approved.
Another 14 area districts earned perfect 100% scores with smaller fleets: Alton with 13 buses approved, Cabool with 15 buses approved, Couch with seven buses approved, Eminence with eight buses approved, Gainesville with 16 buses approved, Glenwood with six buses approved, Howell Valley with six buses approved, Oregon-Howell (Koshkonong) with nine buses approved and Thayer with 11 buses approved.
Richards, Junction Hill, Thornfield and Winona districts also placed 100% of their presented buses into immediate approved status, with Richards passing 10 buses, Junction Hill passing six buses, Thornfield passing four buses and Winona passing 10 buses.
Skyview State School in Mtn. Grove presented one bus, which was approved.
Licking School District also earned the Total Fleet Excellence designation by hitting the award's strict formatting thresholds, presenting 17 buses with 16 approved (93.7%) and just one flagged as defective (6.3%) with zero out-of-service violations. Ozark Action Inc. Head Start presented 10 buses, with nine approved (90.0%) and one flagged as defective (10.0%), also qualifying for a fleet excellence sticker.
Regional Inspection Summaries
Other districts across south-central Missouri showed mixed results in the initial round of mechanical evaluations:
Ava School District presented 32 buses, with 22 approved (68.7%), six defective (18.8%) and four placed out of service (12.5%).
Bakersfield presented 11 buses, with nine approved (81.8%), one defective (9.1%) and one placed out of service (9.1%).
Dora presented 12 buses, with nine approved (75.0%) and three flagged as defective (25.0%).
Fairview presented 12 buses, with 10 approved (83.4%), one flagged as defective (8.3%) and one placed out of service (8.3%).
Houston presented 17 buses, with 14 approved (82.3%), one noted as defective (5.9%) and two placed out of service (11.8%).
Lutie presented six buses, with five buses (83.3%) approved and one flagged as defective (16.7%).
Mtn. Grove presented 28 buses, with 25 approved (89.3%), two noted as defective (7.1%) and one placed out of service (3.6%).
Mtn. View-Birch Tree School presented 22 buses for a 90.9% approval rating. While 20 buses were approved, one bus was deemed defective (4.5%) and one declared out-of-service (4.5%).
Norwood presented 10 buses, with six approved (60.0%), two defective (20.0%) and two placed out of service (20.0%).
Ozark Horizon State School in West Plains presented 5 buses with two (40%) approved, one (20%) declared defective and two (40%) removed from service.
Plainview School District in Ava presented two buses with one approved (50%) and one deemed defective (50%).
Skyline School District in Norwood presented six buses, with five approved (83.3%) and one flagged as defective (16.7%).
The South Central Missouri Community Action Agency’s seven-county coverage area includes Shannon County. The agency presented two buses for inspection, with one meeting approval (50%) and the other noted as defective (50%).
Summersville presented 12 buses, with 10 approved (83.3%) and two flagged as defective (16.7%).
“Through the unified effort of Missouri State Highway Patrol personnel and pupil transportation professionals statewide, the successful inspection of over 11,000 school buses occurred in accordance with Missouri revised state statutes,” Col. Turner said. “The annual inspection of school buses is one of many ways the Patrol, Missouri schools and private pupil transportation companies work together to ensure the safety of children while they travel on school buses.”
Individual school district safety results are considered a matter of public record and remain available on the patrol's webpage at apps.mshp.dps.mo.gov/MSHPWeb/PatrolDivisions/DVSD/MVI/index.html.
