SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla. — Seminole County Public Schools leaders hope to have some new school bus drivers soon after hosting a job fair Saturday morning. 

They are one of several Central Florida school districts desperate to find some drivers to take on their routes.

Gordon Vanpelt was one of the first applicants to walk into Seminole County Schools Transportation Hub Saturday morning.  He is a stay-at-home dad looking to get back into the workforce, and as a Lake Mary local, he knows the area like the back of his hand. With experience driving a truck, he thinks he’d be the perfect fit for this job.

“I think it is a good opportunity to help kids and I want to be around my child, she is in Lake Mary Elementary School, so I am interested in being around her more,” said Vanpelt.

He is one of dozens that showed up to toss their hat in the ring to become school bus drivers.  It’s a welcome sight for district staff as they shared the vacancies have forced them to get creative to cover routes. 

“This whole school year was very difficult and challenging in terms of vacancies. We had a lot of our office staff having to do runs and fill in when people were out sick or on vacation, and so getting about 70 additional drivers would get us to a really happy spot going into the next school year,” said Michael Lawrence, communication officer for Seminole County Public Schools. 

Starting pay for a bus driver is $16.53 an hour with the opportunity for several bonuses, which they hope will entice more applicants to take the job. 

“They can get quarterly attendance bonuses, they can get safe driver bonuses and then they can get longevity bonuses depending on how long they are there, so this is a great opportunity for those who are recently retired but want to stay busy, it is a good opportunity for those who have other part-time jobs and needs something in between. It is a great opportunity,” said Lawrence.

All that is needed to be considered for the job is a high school diploma, a driver's license with a clean record and be able to pass a background check and drug screening. No commercial driver license is required — they will put applicants through the required training on-site.

After completing his application and acing his interview, Vanpelt is confident he'll be hitting the road soon.

“It was a real easy process, quick, simple, the questions are simple. They are not asking too much,” said Vanpelt. “I am looking forward to being a bus driver, my daughter is excited about me coming here, so I am happy. So hopefully everything works out and I’ll have a job working for Seminole County School Board.”

District employees said the application process takes about three to four weeks until they are officially hired. Their next CDL training class kicks off on Aug. 10.