Kansas Highway Patrol To Inspect USD 457 School Buses
While students and teachers are getting ready for the start of the new school year, Garden City Public Schools Transportation Department is also getting ready. On Wednesday, July 29th, the Kansas Highway Patrol will be inspecting school buses starting at 7:00 a.m. at the Garden City Public Schools Transportation Department, 139 Clover Leaf. Every school bus must pass inspection before the district can use the vehicles to transport students. The inspection is another step Garden City Public Schools takes to ensure students will be safe on their way to and from school.
Kansas Highway Patrol officers will be checking over 50 school buses that the district uses to transport students. Officers will inspect equipment and mechanical systems on each school bus, including the brake system, steering system, fuel system, mirrors, lights, stop arm, emergency doors and exits. Officers will also inspect all of the other vehicles that will transport students that are in the district’s fleet.
The Garden City Public Schools Transportation Department has 35 professional drivers and 11 personnel who work to safely transport around 1,900 students per day, as well as 200 special needs students with daily door-to-door service. The school buses travel a total of 2,800 miles per day or approximately 529,200 miles per school year. The department covers 186 routes across the district during each morning and afternoon.
The first day of school for the 2026-27 school year will be Wednesday, August 12th, with a half-day orientation for students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade, seventh grade, ninth and tenth grades, and all students new to Garden City Public Schools. The first full day of school for Garden City Public Schools is Thursday, August 13, 2026, when all classes will be in session for the start of the 2026-27 school year.
For more information, call Shane Burns, Garden City Public Schools Transportation Director, at 620-805-8750.
For more information about the start of the school year, go to www.gckschools.com.