More than 1,200 school buses are being recalled to fix structural defects to sheet metal inside the vehicles and to hydraulic brake pedals.

Blue Bird and Girardin announced the NHTSA recalls last week.

Blue Bird announced a recall of 1,001 Type C Vision school buses with model years 2010 and 2011 that may have faulty hydraulic pedals. The company said the pedal may deform upon application, which could prevent the parking brake from fully applying. The effected buses were manufactured from Nov. 13, 2009 through Dec. 15 of this year. That recall is expected to begin around Feb. 17, 2011.

Blue Bird also said 143 All American D3 school buses manufactured between April 23 and Sept. 11 of this year fail to comply with FMVSS 221 "School Bus Body Joint Strength." The side panel joint adhesive that is required to be used to adhere panels "may not have been used during production," the manufacturer said on Dec. 15. The result could be that during a crash the panels may loosen or separate.

Girardin, which now operates a joint venture with Blue Bird to manufacture Type A Micro Bird school buses, also announced a similar recall of 112 model year 2008 and 2009 Girardin G5s. The smaller school buses were manufactured on both Ford and GM chassis from Feb. 1, 2008 through Dec. 16, 2008. Both Blue Bird and Girardin said dealers will repair free of charge the buses by adding adhesive and rivets between the two embossed aluminum sheets. The recalls are expected to begin next month.