The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education recently presented the Mehlville Transportation Department with the “Exemplary School Bus Maintenance Award” based on inspections this spring.

This marks the 10th consecutive year that Mehlville has earned the honor, according to a district news release.

To earn the “Exemplary School Bus Maintenance Award” a district must score 90 percent on the state inspection.

Mehlville earned a 97.67 percent score on the state inspection, which is 10.43 percent more than the state average of 87.24 percent. In fact, over the past 10 years, Mehlville has averaged a 96.32 percent score on state inspections, a full 12.02 percent more than the state average of 84.30 percent during that time span.

“I am very proud of this achievement by our staff and want to thank everyone for their hard work and dedication over the years to achieve these outstanding results,” stated Keith Henry, Mehlville director of transportation. “The statistics are even more impressive considering our aging fleet and shrinking budget. Plus, this past year we were faced with the added hurdle of having split locations for our buses.

Mehlville’s Transportation Department also earned the Highway Patrol “Fleet Excellence Award” for the sixth straight year in 2004.