Michigan school bus audit finds driver training and vehicle inspection shortcomings
Michigan still needs to improve the safety of students on their way to school, according to an audit released Friday morning.
The audit signaled numerous concerns about the qualifications of school bus drivers and how the buses themselves are inspected. The Michigan Office of the Auditor General found that more than two-thirds of the school bus drivers they sampled lacked documentation proving they met all the required qualifications for the job.
The department also found that 15 of their bus drivers had felony convictions on their record that weren't caught before they were hired.
Of the nearly 2,000 drivers employed between 2020 and 2023, 6% didn't have a commercial driver's license or endorsements to drive students. An estimated 35% of drivers still needed to complete all their required periodic training.
The auditor general reported the need to address these issues due to the "safety threats that could exist when bus drivers transporting pupils lack sufficient training, appropriate licensing credentials, and/or documented approval for hire when certain felony convictions exist in a driver's criminal history background."
When it comes to the buses themselves and the way they're inspected, the report says the Michigan Department of Education failed to monitor pre-trip school bus inspections and that 80% of sampled documents required in those inspections were deficient.
It also noted that school bus inspections by the Michigan State Police were not happening every 365 days, leading to more safety deficiencies. Red stickers used to keep unsafe buses out of service also didn't clarify those buses couldn't be driven.
The Michigan Department of Education, which oversees student transportation, acknowledged these shortcomings and provided several remedies in response to the report.
