Of the 40 buses in the Wareham Public Schools’ fleet, only five ultimately did not pass inspection in August.

Wareham Schools Transportation Manager Jeff Tatro presented a transportation report to the School Committee Wednesday night, detailing, among other things, the inspection reports of the schools’ fleet of buses.

The schools’ total fleet consists of 25 full-size buses, one full-size special needs bus, 14 shorter special needs buses and 7D vans. 7D vans carry no more than eight students, and they transport students along a fixed route for the school year.

Of the buses, 28 vehicles passed initial inspection, but seven that initially failed were repaired the same inspection day and passed. The vans, on the other hand, go through a different inspection process off-site, Tatro said.

He said the fleet plan has been modified for the year, and each of the buses will undergo a “visible inspection” at least once every 17 weeks, regardless of how many miles they have been driven.

“This means there is a visible inspection done on each vehicle, at least three times a year,” Tatro said. “Most vehicles stay in town and cover low miles – their fluid changes will be done every … 34 weeks. … For our out-of-district and high mileage vehicles, they will be inspected and fluids changed every six weeks.”

Tatro said he would meet every two weeks with Municipal Maintenance and once a week with the transportation supervisor. Ultimately, however, Tatro said, Municipal Maintenance would be responsible for signing off on the buses.

“It’s literally a judgement call,” Tatro said of inspections.

Committee Chairman Geoff Swett asked about the process of inspection and what made the buses safe or not safe to drive. He specifically focused on the policy regarding brakes.

“I’ve driven a lot of buses, and I have literally never had a brake problem, but, absent to the driver alerting you to a brake problem, is there any routine investigation based on mileage or time or whatever?” Swett asked.

Tatro said the brakes will be inspected, along with everything else, during each 17-week inspection, and that the buses that failed inspection did not fail because of brake issues.

“I believe a few had cracked brake liners, but that’s a different issue,” Tatro said. “They do crack, from time to time. It’s usually a sign of something else happening, but it’s not going to prevent the vehicle from stopping.”

Tatro assured the committee that, outside of any malfunctions reported by a driver, the vehicles would be fully inspected every 17 weeks, regardless of their apparent good health.