Wanted: Lee County school bus drivers

LEE COUNTY, Fla.- The Lee County School District is in desperate need of school bus drivers.

District officials say it’s because more students are moving to the area and riding the bus.

“Right now, we have 753 buses on the run. Those buses cover 1,470 routes,” said Robert Morgan.

Morgan is the Executive Director of Transportation for the Lee County School District.

“We need about 100 plus operators,” said Morgan. “We’d be happy to have substitutes or part time people.”

The reasons why the district is low on bus drivers range from an increase in students, to something less unexpected.

“We’ve increased approximately 2,000 students this school year, we’ve have to add more buses to the road,” said Morgan. “This virus, flu that’s going around, our absenteeism is a little higher than we’d normally be.”

Morgan says lately, the district has had to rely more on overtime, which can become costly. Less drivers also means later arrivals.

“We have later arrivals. The public has cooperated and the bus operators have cooperated.”

Here’s Morgan’s pitch to those who may be interested in helping.

“Pays $14 per hour to start, which isn’t something to sneeze at,” said Morgan. “If you are out there, and interested in working part-time, and want to see our students at their best, it’s a great thing to do.”

All you need to do is “have a high school diploma, five years of driving experience, and a nice record. You can’t have over six points on your driver’s license, no DUIs, no drugs. A good citizen is what we are looking for,” said Morgan.

He adds that the school district does do fingerprinting, background checks, and TB tests to anyone who applies.

If you’d like to apply, click here.