AMERICAN FORK, Utah -- Routine safety inspections sent nearly half of the school buses in the Alpine School District to the garage.
According to Utah Highway Patrol, the buses weren’t safe.
The state mandated inspection in October took 139 buses off the road. There are 311 in the entire fleet.
“The bus inspections happen twice a year,” said Sgt. Jason Kelsey with UHP. “The inspection in the fall is a 100 percent inspection of the buses. Alpine School District had a 45 percent out-of-service rate.”
Each was checked inside and out. Services ranged from brakes, tires, lights, emergency exits and seating.
According to the Alpine School District, children were not in any risk despite the report.
“To put it in the category that the buses are unsafe is really not an accurate description of what many of the repairs entailed,” said district spokesman John Patten.
The problem, district officials say, is an aging bus fleet with the combination of an increase in nearly 2,000 students a year.
“Every year our transportation budget gets bigger to respond to the growth of the district because that unique feature of the school district being the fastest growing in the state,” Patten said.
