The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) is offering to fund local education agencies (LEAs) in the state to purchase propane-powered school buses.
The Missouri Propane Education and Research Council said in a press release that DESE is providing $970,000 million in funding to school districts for the purchase of the propane school buses. School districts can apply for up to four propane buses at $24,250 each.
Application consideration will be based on data received. At the time of the release last month, the DESE said it had received over two dozen applications and about dozen more spots were available.
Guidance from DESE stated that school buses must meet certain eligibility requirements, including being a 2024 model or newer equipped with an EPA certified engine, and purchased rather than leased. LEAs will need to provide a title, certificate of origin, or a purchase order to the department, showing the purchase of the buses with grant funds, by June 15.
The applications are due Dec. 15. DESE stated that “after the initial application period, should funds remain available, a second round of funding will be offered using the same criteria that will be applied to the first round.”
A 10-year-old girl was struck by a school bus in O’Fallon, Missouri and died from her injuries.
The O’Fallon Police Department released a statement on Nov. 8 saying that they had responded to the scene near Lupine Court and Snowbird Lane, where a school bus had struck a child and resulting in fatal injuries.
Police said that the school bus driver is cooperating with investigators and that an accident reconstruction team is working to determine the cause of the accident.
“Tonight, our community is grieving. A family lost a child, a school lost a student, and our entire community feels this tremendous loss,” said Fort Zumwalt School District Superintendent Dr. Paul Meyers in a statement. “At a time like this, there is no way to express the grief we all are feeling. Right now, our priorities are to respect the privacy of the student’s family and to take care of our students, families, staff and community.”
The district added that counselors, mental health professionals, and administrators are providing support and resources for students, their families and staff.
“As a district and as a community, we are supporting the student’s family by respecting their privacy at this incredibly difficult time,” it stated. “We are cooperating with the O’Fallon Police Department’s ongoing investigation and appreciate their partnership.”
A GoFundMe page for the child’s family raised over $22,000 at this report.
To date, STN has reported on five student fatalities involving school buses since the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year.
Marty Marks said it can be easy to get frustrated with the student riders when they don’t behave on the school bus. But he added that each day, students have a fresh start as they head to school.
Similarly, he said there is no place for transportation staff holding grudges or passing judgement. “Every day is a new day,” he added, echoing his favorite quote.
Marks started in the school transportation industry in 2005, when he became a school bus driver for his children’s school events. He started driving part-time for Neosho School District in Missouri as well as driving trips for four years. Marks then moved over 250 miles to the east, to St. Louis, where he worked for 10 years at First Student as a safety manager, later becoming a location manager. In 2019, he moved back to Neosho to serve as the director of transportation, a role he’s held since.
Marty Marks says he enjoys interacting and listening to the student bus riders.
Each year, School Transportation News chooses 10 Rising Stars based on nominations submitted by school districts and companies around the industry. These individuals have shown exemplary commitment and dedication in the student transportation industry and continue to demonstrate innovation in their roles. This year’s Rising Stars are featured in the November magazine issue.
“Listening to the younger students,” he said of his favorite part of his job and what’s kept in the industry for 20 years. “Students have imaginations and want to share their thoughts. Students need adult attention and that’s what truly makes the job enjoyable.”
Jim Davis, the superintendent of schools for Neosho, wrote in his nomination that Marks has made significant contributions to enhance the safety, mobility and sustainability at the district. Davis said Marks leads a team of around 70 employees and substitutes and excels in fostering culture within district transportation as a whole.
“This is demonstrated by his staff retention and training opportunities provided on-site to best serve the needs of NSD,” Davis wrote. “Furthermore, under Marty’s leadership, area schools have participated in the annual bus rodeo, hosted at NSD. This annual bus driving and bus maintenance competition provides area schools the opportunity to showcase their skills.”
Safety
Davis said one priority for Marks has been achieving a high school bus inspection rating of 90 percent or greater, as scored by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Additionally, the district has earned the Exemplary School Bus Maintenance Award from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, recognizing a decade of excellent inspection scores.
“During the school year, Marty and his team also conduct on-site bus safety training with our students,” Davis continued. “The purpose is to educate all students within the Neosho School District bus safety and behavior expectations, regardless of if they are a daily rider.”
Prior to the new school year, Davis noted that a bus camp is also hosted, which provides new students an opportunity to tour the school bus, learn how to be responsible and safe on and around the bus, meet the drivers and take a ride on the bus. “The purpose of the bus camp is to help ease some anxiety that may come with being a new student daily rider and best prepare them for the first day of school,” Davis added.
Mobility
To ensure efficiency, Davis said Marks implemented new routing software from Transfinder. Marks noted that previously routing was a manual paper process, and the department was depending on drivers to route themselves.
Davis added that the purpose of implementing the software was to make the routes more efficient. And since implementation, NSD was able to eliminate a couple routes. “NSD runs approximately 50 different daily routes, not including extracurricular activities. Our district is located in the rural southwest corner of Missouri, where the longest route is an hour and a half and spans across two counties,” Davis said of district size.
Sustainability
Davis said NSD has a diverse fleet of diesel, gasoline and propane school buses. Marks said the diversification allows the district to utilize fuel prices to the best of their abilities.
“The purpose of the diverse fleet is to ensure the buses serve the district in the most efficient way to provide safety, cost savings and sustainability,” Davis wrote.
He provided an example, in which the district transported students to an extracurricular event that was three hours away.
“Marty instructed his team to drive the gasoline buses because the temperatures were expected to be dangerously cold,” he recalled. “A diesel bus driven by our neighboring school district would not start due to the weather, and rather than leaving students three hours away from home, our buses brought those students back and dropped them off at their school. Having a diverse fleet is not the norm within school districts, and we are thankful to have these buses to best serve students.”
Challenges
Marty Marks, director of transportation at Neosho School District in Missouri, is fostering team culture through implementation of safety practices and technology.
Marks said one of the biggest challenges at school startup is accurate student information, as many students move in and out of the district frequently. Having accurate student rosters is critical, he said. Additionally, he said, many students do not speak English, which is another challenge that transportation navigates.
“We are also currently using our ParentSquare system to send out mass messaging to help improve parent communications, by sending transportation information directly to parent emails,” he added.
Marks said the goal for the transportation department is to continue to improve its facility. “We want our facility to be among the best,” he said. “This will help to retain drivers.”
One way to do that is implementing a fueling software to better track fuel usage. Plus, he said NSD wants to continue purchasing buses with air conditioning as students are accustomed to it, and it’s better when there are high heat temperatures.
On a personal note, outside of work, Marks said he enjoys spending time with his grandchildren and working around the house.
A 72-year-old retired Missouri man is now driving a school bus and singing to students as a way transform their routes to and from class, reported KSDK News.
According to the news report, Bill Nagle worked in the food sales industry for 35 years before retiring. In 2017, a new chapter of his life began when he decided to become a school bus driver.
Known affectionately by his students as Mr. Bill, Nagel is recognized as the singing bus driver. However, he actually lets the students he transports do the singing.
Highcroft Ridge Elementary principal Chris Clark told local news reporters that Nagel takes the time to learn each of his student’s names. He added that one can hear Nagel’s bus coming up the street because he’s usually on the loudspeaker.
The article states that when students are not singing on the bus, they transform the bus into a zoo with playful animal sounds heard coming from the inside of the bus as it rolls through neighborhoods.
Students and their families alike notice the impact Nagle makes with his unique ways of transporting children.
A Camdenton School District school bus driver in Missouri was arrested on Friday afternoon after driving a school bus with children onboard while intoxicated, reported KY3 News.
According to the news report, school bus driver Brett Emehiser was charged with 20 counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child along with 20 counts of driving while intoxicated with a passenger under the age of 17.
Local news reports say police found the bus stopped at Route EE and Coot Circle Road. Authorities told reporters that the children on the bus had noticed Emehiser driving erratically and almost crashing into other vehicles.
Emehiser was reportedly slurring his words when police approached him. Authorities say his blood alcohol content was .180.
The school district is reportedly working with law enforcement to address this incident. Emehiser is currently being held in the Camden County Jail with no bond.
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