ELK GROVE (CBS13) — School districts are in immediate need of bus driving positions.

The Elk Grove Unified School District says it’s one of several in the region that is struggling to fill vacant positions. The district has 25 positions to fill, while the region has more than 100 positions to fill.

Because of retirements and the rapid expansion of communities and new school construction, the need for bus drivers is great.

“We’re saying we’re hiring,” said Jill Gayaldo with the Elk Grove Unified School District. “We’ve got Roseville and Rocklin and San Juan and Elk Grove.”

The position offers a little more than $16 an hour and after first years experience that can go above $20 an hour.

They offer benefits, but you must be trained first by an instructor like James Snow. He showed off some of the basics to us.

“We don’t send them to test until they’re absolutely ready,” he said.

Expect weeks of classroom and on-the-road training, but don’t worry if you’ve never been behind the wheel of a school bus.

“We prefer if you have no experience,” Snow said.

Learning to drive the 3,000-pound yellow machine seems pretty intense, but navigating through the complexities of teenage attitudes and emotions can be even more rigorous.

“I can teach anybody to drive,” Gayaldo said. “What I need is good quality folks that love kids. We’ll teach you the rest.”

The district’s bus driver job fair is from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday at Florin High School in Sacramento.