Updated Jan. 5 at 11:15 a.m. to include a quote from the school district's director of transportation. Updated Jan. 5 at 2:23 p.m. to correct information about job expos the district is participating in. Leander ISD has raised its bus driver starting salary by a dollar to $16.50 an hour, after a decision by the district’s board of trustees Thursday night. LISD currently has 35 bus driver vacancies, and the pay increase is part of a larger effort to ramp up recruitment, according to the meeting agenda packet. In November, the district began hosting job fairs on Tuesdays and Thursdays, according to meeting documents. Additionally, LISD has attended external job fairs, according to the documents. The LISD board approved the pay increase—which also raised the alternate bus driver salary to $17.50 an hour and the average pay to $17.78 per hour—and numerous incentives to address the bus driver shortage as a consent agenda item Jan. 4. The district will now offer a sign-on bonus of $500 to drivers who obtained their Texas Class “B” Commercial Driver’s License with Passenger & School Bus endorsements prior to being hired. LISD will also provide a $250 bonus to any district employee who refers an applicant who is hired as a bus driver and a $250 incentive to drivers who take less than two absences between Dec. 1-June 8. As part of the incentive package, the board also approved salary adjustments to district administrators. "The Board's approval of the pay increase and incentives will help us attract and retain the dedicated bus drivers that serve our students," LISD Director of Transportation Ann Hatton said. "We're confident that our competitive compensation will help us hire the 35 bus drivers still needed at LISD." To train new hires, LISD submitted an application to become a third-party skills testing center through the Texas Department of Public Safety, allowing the district to conduct Commercial Driver’s License driving exams, according to meeting documents. The certification class for LISD to gain this accreditation takes place in April. To learn more about open bus driver positions at Leander ISD, visit this link.