ATLANTA — Students in metro Atlanta will start heading back to school and many districts are still hiring for several positions, including bus drivers.
Channel 2′s Linda Stouffer looked into the higher wages, bonuses and flexible work hours that one district is offering.
Trenton Dale’s day starts with an extra safety check before his favorite part.
“Just to see the brightness of the kids every morning when they get on the bus,” he said.
[SPECIAL SECTION: Channel 2′s complete guide for back to school 2021 in north Georgia]
Atlanta Public Schools is hiring drivers like Dale for jobs that include benefits like health insurance.
“We’re looking for great big smiles, good hearted drivers with safe driving records, with commercial drivers licenses and to join our ranks to transport safely to school each day,” said John Franklin.
APS will even help with training for the necessary certification.
The district’s chief human resource officer said drivers can work just in the morning and the afternoon or squeeze in extra work while the kids are in school.
“You could still work for us in the middle of the day and pick up some extra hours or overtime doing something else for APS. Like working in the school or doing some extra work for transportation,” Dr. Skye Duckett said.
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Right now, the buses and the bonuses are big: $1,000 for new hires and hourly pay starts at $18 an hour.
“We give full credit for any previous experience you have driving up to $26 and 64 cents an hour. With overtime, that puts you up to an potential of about $40 an hour,” Duckett said.
Atlanta Public Schools is also looking for office workers, IT and more teachers, too. The new school year starts on Thursday Aug. 5.
Applications for the positions can be found on the APS website.
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