Palm Beach County Schools hoping to fill hundreds of positions during first job fair of 2023
The School District of Palm Beach County is preparing for its first in a series of job fairs this year.
The district has hundreds of openings in multiple departments, and is hoping for a big turnout to fill them.
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“I just want people to know that, you know, there’s a lot of great reasons to work for the school district, you know, job security, great benefits, great retirement,” Joseph Sanches, the COO of the School District of Palm Beach County, said.
Sanches is hoping those reasons entice people to come out to the district’s first job fair of the year tomorrow.
Job seekers can apply and interview in person at district headquarters in West Palm Beach for a variety of positions.
“We probably have close to 100 positions for custodians, about 70 or so for our maintenance workers. Another 80 to 100 of bus drivers and attendants. Food service workers, we need over 100 people,” Sanches said.
He said they also could use another 40 to 50 police officers county-wide.
The most challenging jobs to fill, though, are those bus driver positions, even with the minimum salary raised to $20 an hour. Now, they’re also offering a $1,000 sign-on bonus for drivers.
“It takes time to get bus drivers trained, they have to get the CDL if they don't come to us with their CDL. So that's that process. And we do pay people as they earn that CDL. So, it's a great opportunity to earn money while you're learning as well,” Sanches said.
The district also has two new schools opening this year: Dr. Joaquin Garcia High School in Lake Worth Beach and West Boynton Middle School.
Sanches said even more custodians and food service workers are needed to staff those schools.
“One of the things I can say about working for the school district is that we can give a purpose to your passion. I mean, people work here because they're really committed, and you have a lot of long-term employees because they enjoy doing what they do. So come join us,” Sanches said.
Tuesday’s job fair runs from 10 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. at Fulton Holland Educational Services Center (330 Forest Hill Blvd., West Palm Beach, FL.)
Fairs will be held once a month during the school year. Anyone unable to attend can apply for positions online.