The Ector County Independent School District has about a month before classes begin in the district.

District officials need all the time they can get to fill the open positions they have inside and outside the classroom. The district has 130 openings for teacher positions.

Keith Garinger, chief human resources officer for ECISD, said the district is always looking for workers in its maintenance, transportation and food service departments. In the classrooms, ECISD needs to fill openings split nearly evenly between elementary and secondary levels.

Garinger said the 35 international teachers who will fill jobs here were already hired and are not part of the 130 openings. (Garinger was not sure how many openings there were in the maintenance, transportation and food service departments.)

The district also will try to fill two elementary assistant positions and around 40 paraprofessional positions, such as instructional aides and support staff. Garinger said ECISD representatives will travel to job fairs to Dallas and Houston this week to find teachers.

Starting salary without the retention incentive for ECISD teachers is $44,000, Garinger said. He explained the incentive endeavors to try to get teachers to stay with the district for a longer period of time. It is $3,000 and it’s in paid two $1,500 increments, and teachers who sign on with the retention incentive have a starting salary of $47,000. A teacher with a master’s degree and with the retention has a starting salary of $49,575.

A DRIVE TO FIND WORKERS

David Morris needs lots workers for his department.

Morris is director of transportation for ECISD, which continues to look for bus drivers to do the critical job of taking children to and from school.

The transportation department has 38 bus driver positions open. But Morris said his department needs more than drivers, as the office also has three mechanic and three office positions open.

Morris doesn’t hold much optimism about filling many of his bus driver positions as the 2014-15 school year beckons.

“We may be able to fill five of them, I hope,” he said.

Because of the shortages recently during the school year, his office has used substitutes and then other office personnel to take up the slack.

“So everybody ends up driving almost every day, which basically leaves our offices empty while we’re running our routes,” he said.

His office has been able to cover the routes every, he said, “but just barely.” If there are 38 openings and eight to 10 people call in sick, “then you’re in trouble.”

To be qualified as a bus driver, one has to own a class B Commercial Driver’s License with proper endorsements: passenger and school bus. People must have a good driving record and an acceptable criminal history check, Morris said, explaining that a person’s history will be subject to review on a case-by-case basis and some misdemeanors, especially long ago, will not be grounds for disqualification.

“We prefer people who don’t have any,” he said. (A felony conviction will exclude an applicant for employment.)

Prospective employees will undergo a pre-employment drug screening and a Department of Transportation physical and will take training classes and must obtain a Texas State Bus Driver’s Certification.

Morris said the pay range for bus drivers begins at $14.26 and goes all the way to $19.51, depending on experience. Bus drivers usually work six hours a day and 30 hours a week, but because of shortages, many bus drivers may work 40 hours a week.

Mechanics make $17.56 and up, depending on experience. Office staff pay varies and depends on the job.

The transportation department is not only department losing employees to oilfield jobs, but some bus drivers are leaving to take other jobs that pay more.

“A CDL is a very valuable thing to possess right now,” Morris said.

Working at the ECISD transportation is an excellent opportunity for people, especially retirees, who want to supplement their income and get holidays and summers off, Morris said.

To apply, people may drop by the transportation office at 2211 W. Tenth St., between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

COOKING UP OPENINGS

Katy Taylor, director of school nutrition for ECISD, said her department has 27 fulltime openings and needs 35-40 substitutes to work every day, with substitutes not necessarily going to the same campus each day.

The nutrition office is looking for general helpers, lead cooks, assistant cooks and head cooks. People are needed to do such work as being cashiers and line servers. Cashiers in elementary school may run registers but will help in food prep before operating the registers, Taylor said.

General helpers make $8.82 an hour and pay goes up from there, depending on experience and what job they fill. Assistant cooks make $9.61 an hour and head cooks make $10.47 an hour.

One selling point of working in food service is that parents can work at the same time their children are in school, Taylor said.

Hours for food service employees can vary from four to seven hours a day, depending on what kitchen they’re assigned to and what is needed. Prospective employees must submit to necessary drug screens and background checks.

To apply, people may drop by the nutrition office at 1120 W. Tenth St. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Check out our new enhanced website, myoaoa.com, for more content, photos and videos.