School District Bus Safety (2018-MS-4)

Issued Date
August 30, 2018

[read complete report - pdf]

Audit Objective

Determine whether districts are providing adequate oversight over transportation functions to ensure the safe transportation of students.

Key Findings

  • Districts did not sufficiently monitor in-house drivers or contractual transportation vendors.
  • Superintendents in five districts did not annually approve all bus drivers.
  • Of the 777 bus drivers, 169 (22 percent) did not complete required trainings.
  • We found 22 bus drivers (3 percent) were omitted from random drug testing.
  • Of the 864 required safety drills, 324 (38 percent) were not completed or adequately documented.
  • Districts did not ensure that all pretrip bus safety inspections were completed and reviewed.
  • Districts had no formal mechanism for documenting and following up on complaints.

Key Recommendations

  • Annually approve all drivers that transport district students, including contracted transportation vendor drivers.
  • Take an active role in overseeing the districts’ own transportation departments and contracted vendors’ activities and their compliance with requirements.
  • Establish procedures for the intake, documentation and resolution of complaints.

1 With scope extensions for units