Horry County School District looks to fill 57 bus driver vacancies
They are also looking to fill custodian, bus aides and substitute positions.
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WMBF) - Horry County School District is one of the largest districts in the state with 54 schools and 8 million square feet of space that make up their schools and facilities. They operate 379 school buses.
“Our bus drivers drive almost 5 million miles a year and they transport over 20 thousand students on a daily basis so it’s a very large operation,” said Horry County School District Director of Strategic Communications and Community Engagement Lisa Bourcier.
Horry County School District is one of the largest districts in the state with 54 schools and 8 million square feet of space that make up their schools and facilities. They operate 379 school buses.
“We are trying to be really creative with our technology when it comes to mapping and routing schedules for that,” said Bourcier. “We also have staff personnel that work in the officer that are trained and have their certifications to drive a bus if needed as well. Trying to get creative with the scheduling and routing but again it would definitely help and benefit as far as our efficiency and timing if we added additional bus drivers.”
The school district is also looking to fill substitute positions, but they are starting to get back to a normal range. During the pandemic, many substitutes stopped working. Prior to covid, approximately 94% of the sub positions were filled. That dropped to about 70% during the pandemic. This school year, it bounced back up to about 85%.
“We are hoping to continue to add to our list,” said Bourcier. “Pre-pandemic we were looking very good as far as our substitute numbers but with the pandemic, our numbers did decline a bit because of being out of school for several months as well as doing the hybrid schedule for that so were looking better, but we can always use additional personal.”
Many substitutes are previous educators who moved to Horry County to retire.
“We’re fortunate to have a lot of retirees that are educators who come and move to Horry County and are still looking to get back into the schools and help and even looking for part-time or as need basis so it’s a wonderful opportunity for those who are able to still stay in the education world,” said Bourcier.
The school district is taking proactive measures to fill these positions.
They held a job fair at the district office Thursday.
They are also holding virtual substitute workshops monthly. The last two workshops had over 70 participants. Some of the participants who took part in the September workshop are already in the classroom.
You can learn more about the requirements and workshop at https://www.horrycountyschools.net/Page/603
Copyright 2022 WMBF. All rights reserved.
