Bus/School Vehicle Inspections

Between June 1 and September 30, each year all Kansas School Buses, Activity Buses and School Passenger Vehicles shall be inspected. The inspection process is two part with the first part being conducted by a mechanic knowledgeable about the mechanical systems of school buses and has a letter certifying his qualifications.

The inspections should meet the requirements of: Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations appendix A to part 396 Minimum Periodic Inspection Standards

CVSA (Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance) Inspection Bulletins this website provides links to bulletins providing guidance for inspecting items in in appendix A .

After the mechanic inspection  is completed and documented on the appropriate form provided by the Kansas Department of Education, each Bus and School Passenger Vehicle shall be inspected by the Kansas Highway Patrol to determine whether the mechanical inspection was completed and the school vehicle is equipped with the appropriate safety devices and those devices are in proper working order.

This two part inspection process is critical to the safe operation of Kansas School Buses and School Vehicles.  No school bus, activity bus or school passenger vehicle shall be used to transport students until the inspection process has been completed and the bus is in proper working order.

Any school bus, activity bus, or school passenger vehicle that is purchased at any time following the required annual inspection period shall be inspected before being used to transport students.

Refer to KAR 91-38-5 for more information.
 

School/Activity Bus & School Passenger Vehicle Inspection Forms

EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY 1, 2019 THE USE OF INSPECTION FORMS WITH A REVISION DATE OF JANUARY 2019 IS MANDATORY

Kansas Department of Education School/Activity Bus & School Vehicle Inspection Information and Guidelines (PDF) The Kansas Department of Education School/Activity Bus & School Vehicle Inspection Information and Guidelines is to provide guidance and be a resource for the inspection process of school/activity buses and school vehicles in the state of Kansas.

Mechanic Inspector Qualification Letter (PDF) a form "letter" to be signed by a mechanic certifying that they are knowledgeable in performing vehicle inspections in compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

School/Activity Bus Part I MECHANIC & Part II KHP Inspection Form (PDF) The Kansas State Department of Education's official Part I Mechanic and Part II KHP Inspection form for school & activity buses. These two forms are combined into one single document to allow like form fields such as the VIN to populate from one entry, alleviating the need to type fields more than once which are duplicated on these two forms.

When printing the School/Activity Bus Part I & II Inspection forms it is mandatory for each individual form to be printed on separate single sheet of paper.

School Passenger Vehicle Inspection Form Part I & II (PDF) The Kansas State Department of Education's official school passenger vehicle safety inspection form. To be utilized by the mechanic and the Kansas Highway Patrol.

Both the Mechanic Inspection Form and the Kansas Highway Patrol Inspection Form shall be given to the Kansas Highway Patrol Officer performing the inspections with copies of each maintained by the school district or contract transportation provider.

After both the mechanic and Kansas Highway Patrol inspections are completed successfully the Kansas Highway Patrol will issue an inspection sticker to be placed on the lower left side of the front windshield.
Inspection Sticker Information

Macintosh Users
Mac users must have Acrobat or Reader installed and be viewing the PDF in Acrobat or Reader for the form to work. Many Mac users have the Preview Application as their default PDF viewer, and it does not support many interactive features.

1. Open the Inspection form.
2. Save/Download the Inspection form to your computer.
3. Locate the Save/Downloaded file on your computer and open with Adobe Reader or Adobe Acrobat.
4. Fill out the form and save.

Electric School Bus / Electric School Passenger Vehicle Inspection Forms

Inspectors performing Part I Mechanic Inspections required by KAR 91-38-5 of an electric bus or an electric passenger vehicle shall receive training approved by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) prior to performing the inspection.

All inspectors performing the Part I Mechanic inspection shall complete the KSDE Mechanic Inspector Qualification Letter with a revised date of November 2022. The letter requires the inspector to certify they have received training on proper mechanical inspection procedures developed by the OEM for the electric bus(es) they are inspecting.

All Electric Buses must be inspected using the Kansas Department of Education School Bus Inspection Record Part I and Part II Electric Bus Only forms with a revised date of January 2023.

All Electric School Passenger Vehicles must be inspected using the Kansas Department of Education School Bus Inspection Record Part I and Part II  forms with a revised date of January 2023.

Electric School Bus Part I MECHANIC & Part II KHP Inspection Form 

Electric School Passenger Vehicle Part I MECHANIC & Part II Inspection Form

Mechanic Inspector Qualfication Letter

Cleaning Acitivity & School Buses

In addition to the approximately 220,000 students, Kansas school buses also transport a countless number of germs every day. Students and drivers can contaminate an area as soon as they touch it. Handrails, seat backs, seat cushions and windows are all common touch areas. The COVID-19 situation has brought and an increased awareness to cleaning and disinfecting school vehicles. This document contains information to assist you with cleaning your activity and school buses along with your school passenger vehicles.  All school vehicles should be considered an extension of the classroom with the same expectation of cleanliness.

Cleaning Information Document 

Optional Electrical Vehicle Inspection Training

FMCSA (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration) , in partnership with CVSA (Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance), has developed a training course on inspecting high-voltage electric drive commercial motor vehicle.

The course covers:

  • An Introduction to High-Voltage Electric-Drive Vehicles
  • Identifying High-Voltage CMVs
  • Types of Electric-Drive CMVs
  • High-Voltage Hazards
  • Low and High-Voltage Systems
  • Dangers of High-Voltage

This course, available here, is approximately 1 hour in length and includes six modules with content, graphic displays, and a video demonstration of how a hybrid electric vehicle operates. There will be knowledge checks throughout the training. Additionally, the end of the course contains an examination which covers topics from throughout the entirety of the course. A certificate section is provided for when the examination has been passed. A text-only version of the course is also available.

Course: Inspecting High-Voltage Electric-Drive Commercial Motor Vehicles | FMCSA (dot.gov)

NOTE: This training application functions optimally when viewed in Google Chrome. Certain functionalities related to the interactive knowledge checks, post-quiz review, and training certification generation may be limited in Internet Explorer or Firefox.

School Bus / Activity Bus / School Passenger Vehice Recalls

https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls Enter VIN from school buses, activity buses and school passenger vehicles to check for recalls

https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls#car-seats Enter child seat information to check for recalls

https://www.nhtsa.gov/recalls#tires Enter tire information to check for recalls

 

 

 

 

School Bus Safety Director
Keith Dreiling
785-296-4567
785-296-6659 (fax)
kdreiling@ksde.org

School Bus Safety Public Service Administrator 
Dennis Tate
785-296-4545
dtate@ksde.org

School Bus Training Coordinator 
Melissa Ostermeyer
785-296-5659
mostermeyer@ksde.org
 

 

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