In a Nov. 16 email, the district asked parents to consider carpooling or driving their students to school, citing the national shortage.
The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the shortage, leading to administrators and staff filling in as substitute drivers, Korinna Kirchoff, the district’s communications facilitator, said in an email.
Every member of the district’s transportation staff, from secretaries to mechanics, are trained to drive school buses, Doug Becker, managing director of transportation said in an August news release. Becker has also driven routes.
“That’s where it gets critical because all of our office mechanics have jobs they have to do during the day,” Becker told Community Impact Newspaper in May. “When you drive a bus route that takes five or six hours out of your day ... that pushes the district into an overtime situation. We want to avoid that as much as possible.”
Kirchoff said the district is researching additional alternatives, including double runs. A double run happens when a bus is at capacity mid-route, delivers those children to school, and then continues the route.
In addition to drivers, the district has a need for custodians, substitute teachers and members of the Child Nutrition Program. FISD currently needs:
- 96 total cooks and cashiers for the Child Nutrition Program
- 70 custodians
- 39 Crossing guards
- 24 bus drivers
- 15 bus monitors
“As far as substitutes, we need as many as possible,” Kirchoff said.
Those interested in filling substitute teacher positions can contact Somar Crowder at [email protected].
Applications for all other FISD positions can be found at www.friscoisd.org/employment/current-openings.
