Teachers, custodians and paraeducators are joining bus drivers as job roles in demand, Boone County Schools officials said.
“We currently have six teacher vacancies; that’s down from 10 last month,” Boone County Schools Human Resources Director Eric Ball said at last week’s school board meeting. “One special ed teacher vacancy – down from two last month. Still looking for three paraeducators, four special ed paraeducators – that’s down from 12 last month.”
Paraeducators provide instructional support to students under the direct supervision of a certified teacher, according to the Kentucky Department of Education.
Typical paraeducator duties are providing one-on-one tutoring for eligible students, assisting with classroom management, acting as a translator and conducting parent involvement activities.
Other school district job openings, according to Ball, include:
13 custodian vacancies – down from 16 last month
Five support staff vacancies – down from six last month
Four cafeteria worker vacancies – down from six last month
“Last month our report was we had 56 vacancies and we have 36 now,” Ball said. “I’m happy we’re definitely moving in the right direction.”
With regard to the current status of the school district’s bus driver shortage, Boone County Schools Deputy Superintendent and Chief Operating Officer Eric McArtor offered an update during Thursday’s meeting.Â
“We hired one new driver, that started today, actually,” McArtor said. “We have three drivers in training who have completed their class work and are now in their road work preparation. We have one former driver who has returned and will need some road work training.”
There were 10 bus driver applications submitted in October, McArtor said.
“We haven’t had any so far in November, so hopefully we can pick that up the rest of the month,” McArtor said. “We’re currently experiencing the same amount of doubles that we’ve had. It tends to fluctuate when we add drivers, but it’s still about 19 to 20 double runs per day throughout our district.”
A double run is when a bus driver has completed a route and is then sent out to pick up more students. When double runs occur, students have to wait longer in the morning for pick up or stay after school in the afternoon – resulting in unpredictable schedules, officials said.
In order to eliminate double runs the school district would need to hire 19 drivers, Ball said.