The drivers, maintenance crew and administrative staff of the Transportation Department’s bus garage for the Siloam Springs School District consider the freight they’re charged with invaluable.

“The cargo we haul is more precious than anything else on the road,” said Steve Avery, transportation director. “We do everything in our power to take care of the students that the community trusts us with.”

Over winter break, the local district’s Transportation Department passed its fifth inspection by the Arkansas Department of Facilities and Transportation Department, a division of the Department of Education, with no deficiencies noted.

In fact, since the district’s first state inspection in February 2006, no deficiencies have been notedon the Arkansas School Bus Inspection Report ...