SAN ANTONIO — North East ISD is on the hunt for school bus drivers. NEISD is ramping up efforts to bring in more people to get behind the wheel of a school bus.
The school district is offering sign-on bonuses of up to $2,000.
Executive Director of Transportation Bill Harrison said the school district is having a having a hard time getting applications.
"We have about 230 bus routes," he said. "We are in need of 45 drivers to fill all those routes."
The start of the new school year is less than two weeks away, and the need this year is bigger than in years past.
"A typical year we might be 30, 35," he said. "It is a little unusual this year. If you don't have the supply. You have to create the demand."
For the first time, NEISD is offering sign-on bonuses for school bus drivers. New drivers who already have a CDL will get $2,000. If you don't have a CDL, NEISD will train you for your CDL test, and you will get $1,000, once your complete your training.
"If someone has never driven a bus or thought about it," he said. "We encourage them to come by and sit in one of our buses and we will even take them for a ride in it on certain days and check it out. It can be a little intimidating."
The goal is to bring in candidates. However, if the need is not met, there are plans in place like something NEISD calls a double run.
"A bus in the morning might drop off an elementary school 10-to-15 minutes early than what they normally do," he said. "And that same bus will go back out to the same neighborhood, and pick up another bus load of kids and come right back."
Current NEISD Transportation employees can also earn a $2,000 referral bonus, if they refer a friend. Drivers also have until October 31 to receive the referral or sign-on bonus. Starting pay for a driver is nearly $17 dollars an hour.
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