School Bus Drivers Needed Around Tampa Bay

I know it's a mad scramble around my house trying to get ready for school. We are buying school supplies, school clothes, meeting the teachers and TRYING to get the kids back on their bedtime routines. Well, guess who else (or I should say "what other entity") is scrambling right now. School administrations and employers around the Tampa Bay area trying to find bus drivers.

We are less than a week away from the start of school for many Tampa Bay school districts, and bus drivers are needed.

Our friends at ABC Action News did some investigating and found out that Hillsborough County Public Schools is trying to hire 180 school bus drivers.

Jim Beekman is the district’s General Manager of Transportation Services. He said, “We raised our wages for our drivers, you know, this past spring, you know, and did get them bumped up to $16 an hour. Two weeks ago, I was over in the Orlando area talking to a driver that works for a private contractor that works for Disney, and they got bumped up to $15 an hour last year, and now they’re up to $23 an hour.”

It would be easier hire drivers if districts had more money to offer. Jim added, “It will go a great way to help allow us to be competitive in the marketplace that we’re at. We need good people. We need to pay them well, but we need good people to take care of our kids. You know, we have to do something to make sure our students are taken care of.”

Are you interested in becoming a school bus driver? Do you know someone who might be? It might be stressful, but could also be rewarding. You can find out more when you visit here.

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