Inspection Company To Review Entire Fleet Of Keller ISD Buses

KELLER (CBSDFW.COM) - School is out for the summer but the work is just getting started on Keller ISD buses. An independent inspection company will go over the entire fleet, thanks to a Consumer Justice investigation.

Back in May, half a dozen drivers told CBS11 about issues including broken horns, bad brakes, non-working stop signs and more. They said they had reported the problems for months. Repairs began happening the day Consumer Justice contacted Durham School Services, the company that runs Keller ISD's transportation program.

Documents obtained by Consumer Justice show 180 repairs were made on 67 buses in May. That's a 445 percent increase from April, when mechanics performed 33 repairs on 20 buses.

After the CBS11 investigation, a parent sent Consumer Justice videos showing Keller ISD students rushing to get off a school bus as it filled with smoke. The district said a cooling component stopped working, which produced a significant amount of white smoke. The students were not hurt but no one told parents about the evacuation until an email was sent a week later. A Keller ISD spokesperson says that "was not a timely response." The district is now implementing a policy to contact parents and administrators right away when there is a bus emergency.

As for the other repairs, a fleet maintenance team is doing a full audit of the records, and starting in July, an independent inspection company will look over every bus. A Durham spokesperson says the company apologized to Keller ISD, telling Consumer Justice there were "clearly gaps that needed to be fixed" and "we're going to make it right."