New Hanover County looks to hire more school bus drivers

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — New Hanover County Schools is hiring. The school district has around 15 open position for bus drivers.

School leaders say there is an ongoing need for bus drivers all over the country.

One woman decided to make the jump and fill one of those openings.

“I thought, why not?” Annette Sikorski said. “Why not give it a try?”

Sikorski was getting close to retirement, but wanted some security and benefits. She’s now in the process of getting her license to drive.

“I used to be a crossing guard in the early days, and I had friends who were bus drivers, and they’d say, ‘Go for the driver. Why do you want to stand outside?'” she said.

In New Hanover County, they say they are doing 105 route with almost 130 drivers, but around 9% are absent every day.

Assistant Superintendent Eddie Anderson says it’s even more important to have extra drivers with the uncertainty this year.

Anderson says they have been doing shorter route because of COVID-19, but need drivers to make sure they can keep up especially when students come back full-time.

“The number of delays has reduced drastically,” Anderson said. “When and if our school system changes the current plan from Plan B and an AA/BB schedule, we want to be ready to meet that challenge.”

Anderson says they need bus drivers to expand routes and fill daily absences.

Transportation Director Mark Clawson says they need around 15 drivers right now.”

It’s part of probably the normal attrition, but we’ve seen it at a rate that’s much larger this year than we have in the last couple of years,” Clawson said.

Clawson says the shorter routes and the changes they made due to COVID have been working well, but they need more drivers to maintain that.

“We’ve been able to actually get kids to school on time,” he said. “We’re averaging about 99% since the beginning of this school year of on-time arrival.”

Sikorski says she didn’t expect the job change, but it’s also given her some job security.

“It’s a great opportunity,” she said. “It really is. I love it. Right now, I’m still working as an aide with my permit. I’m hoping to get on a road test soon so I can get behind the wheel.”

You can find more information about applying here.