The Bend-La Pine school district is hosting a job fair Friday, in which the district is looking to hire various classified (nonteacher or administrator) employees, including bus drivers and monitors — people the district desperately needs, according to officials.

Tina Bandy, the assistant supervisor for Bend-La Pine’s transportation department, said the district hopes to hire five to six drivers for Bend schools and two to three for La Pine, as it only has one substitute bus driver right now. She said this issue is prevalent nationwide.

“There’s a national shortage of bus drivers; it’s everywhere,” she said. “Most districts are struggling to find drivers.”

A major reason it needs new drivers is to help drive athletic teams to competitions. Bandy said the district has frequently hired charter buses for transporting student-athletes, which can be three times more expensive than using school buses. The need could become more pronounced this school year, as the three Bend high schools will start competing with Salem-area schools, resulting in more lengthy road trips.

Hiring more drivers will also allow the district to provide consistency for students and have more drivers available for educational field trips.

“It benefits the kids and it benefits the community if (students) are able to do things outside of sitting in a seat all day long,” she said.

Bandy offered a couple explanations for the district’s difficulty in finding bus drivers. First, a rising economy means more job opportunities for unemployed residents. Terry Cashman, executive director of operations, added that bus drivers must go through a six-week training process. Also, driving a school bus isn’t everyone’s cup of tea.

“It is working with children, not everybody wants to do that,” Bandy said, “It’s like driving two classrooms down the road, with your back to them.”

The district is looking to hire two or three substitute bus monitors, who act as a “second set of eyes and ears for the driver” and help students that are medically fragile or have high behavioral needs, Bandy said.

Bend-La Pine needs four or five people in nutritional services, according to Cashman.

“You want people who love food and love kids, and we can teach everything else,” he said. “If you have those two aspects, you’re going to be a success.”

Other positions that the district is hiring include substitute custodian, HVAC technician and a repair technician in transportation. Outside of the bus drivers and monitors, Cashman said the hiring scene isn’t too dire.

“We have a need, but our need isn’t so strong that we’ll bring someone on for whom this isn’t a great fit,” he said. “We want to make sure they’re passionate about doing it.”

The job fair will be from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday at Bend High School. According to a school district press release, prospective employees will get to test-drive a school bus, tour the district’s production kitchen and more.

“If people want to make a difference, we would love to see them at the job fair,” Cashman said. “We’ve got a spot for everybody.”

— Reporter: 541-617-7854; jhogan@bendbulletin.com