The Kansas City Public School District terminated its contract with Daye Transportation Friday in response to this week's issues.
Multiple Daye Transportation buses were pulled from service after surprise inspections on Friday.
The Missouri Highway Patrol performed safety inspections on 19 buses with Daye Transportation, a school bus provider for Lincoln College Prep Academy.
"It does put you at an alarming concern because they are carrying our kids to and from school," Sgt. Bill Lowe with the Missouri Highway Patrol said. "We want to make sure these buses are safe because they are carrying our precious cargo."
Eight of the buses were pulled out of service because of serious violations that could endanger the safety of children on those buses. The violations included problems with emergency back doors, problems with stop arms and low tread on the tires.
Another 8 buses had minor problems that were fixed following the inspection allowing them to continue to be in service.
Only three of the 19 buses fully passed inspection.
“This is obviously something we can't accept. The safety of our kids is obviously paramount," explained KCPS spokeswoman Natalie Allen. “Ultimately, we’re really happy the Transit Authority is doing their job and our kids weren't on the buses that were deemed unsafe.”
During the first week of school at Lincoln College Prep Academy, Allen said the bus issues impacted students’ time in the classroom.
“If a bus is showing up late, obviously kids aren’t getting to class on time, which means instruction is not going to be happening,” she explained.
Superintendent Mark Bedell and the Board of Education released a joint statement Friday:
"In light of the inspections made by the transportation commission today, we have decided to break our ties with Daye Transportation. The safety of our students is the most important thing to us, and ultimately, we have to protect them. We understand this decision will affect a small percentage of our families, as we will have to make some adjustments in regard to bus times and routes. We will continue to work to minimize the impact. Ultimately, the safety and security of our students is paramount, and we are taking all precautions to ensure they are protected."
Public school transportation staff will work through the weekend to sort things out. On Monday, First Student Transportation will send in extra drivers to cover routes impacted by the contract termination.
KCPS staff said despite terminating the contract with Daye Transportation, there may still be problems with buses next week.
“Ultimately, this is going to cause a few more hiccups next week,” Allen said. “We're just asking parents to be patient with us."
This is the first year the company was hired to provide transportation for Lincoln College Prep.
On the first day of school this year, dozens of students were left waiting at various bus stops. Problems with transportation of students continued through Wednesday.
Moving forward, KCPS staff hope improvement with bus transportation comes soon.
“We're just going to continue forward and be optimistic and positive about what the next week brings," Allen explained.
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