Anyone with a clean driving record looking to earn extra money may want to consider becoming a substitute bus driver for Limestone County Schools.

The school system is looking for people to join the pool of substitutes in case a route driver is ever unavailable to work, said Transportation Director Rusty Bates.

“We can’t technically hire them, we’re just trying to get them on the list,” he said. “We try to keep a pool of substitute drivers and when we get routes open, we typically hire out of that pool (for permanent positions).”

A Class B commercial driver license is required to drive a school bus, but Bates said the school system has a program to help individuals get their learners permit and train them to drive the buses so they can become certified.

Substitute bus driving attracts candidates of all ages, Bates said.

“We have drivers in their 60s and in their 20s,” he said. “We seem to attract retired people who are looking for something to do and we love to have those. We have a lot of people self-employed and we attract those because once they’re hired full-time, they get insurance. Younger drivers are coming because they need employment.”

Bates said even though drivers are substitutes, it’s likely they will cover a route every day.

“90 percent of the time we keep them driving,” he said. “We have so many drivers who drive every day so the likelihood of having one to four drivers out is high. We keep our substitutes busy.”

The job pays $25 a route, meaning drivers can earn up to $50 a day.

“A lot of people don’t know that, not only do you drive your route, you can turn around and drive field trips for us,” Bates said. “That gets you even more money.”

Prospects don’t need a special license starting out, Bates said.

“We’ll teach you how to get your Class B CDL, passenger endorsement, learner’s permit and bus license,” he said. “We do it all in-house. The biggest thing we have to remind people is that being a state agency and holding a CDL, we do drug tests and we do background checks. If you’ve got a good driving record and you’re good with knowing you’re getting a drug test, then come on.”

Anyone interested should call the bus barn, 256-232-5130.