AMHERST, N.Y. — Across Western New York the school year has started, but some districts are stretched thin due to a lack of staff.
That is the case for the Sweet Home Central School District, which is looking to fill 30 to 50 open positions.
Sweet Home's superintendent, Mike Ginestre, said they mostly need those positions filled. He says it's not impacting pick-up or drop-off times because the school has gotten creative in adapting, but it is taking an effect on before and after school programs.
"We're really tight in those areas, and we pride ourselves on having a full slate of programs, but we need transportation in order to do that," Ginestre said.
Trying to get more bus drivers and bus aides is just one of the reasons Sweet Home held a job fair on Saturday.
"We're really stretched thin so this has been a huge help today," Ginestre said.
The district is also looking for teacher aides, custodians, cleaners, mechanics ... the list goes on. Officials there need to fill 30 to 50 positions.
"We did very active recruitment over the summer. We also recognized that there were some high need areas that we needed to target our recruitment efforts," said Finune Shaibi, director of HR at Sweet Home.
In fact, these potential hires will help prepare for anymore staffing shortages later this year.
"Many of our positions are fully staffed," Shaibi said. "We are doing this as a proactive measure to create a second line of defense to cross train individuals."
Ginestre attributes it to workers not wanting to return to their previous job after COVID in order to do something else, and employees who decided to retire during the pandemic.
Some applicants have showed up for a change of pace.
"Right now, I'm doing Uber. I feel like doing something better than that. That's why I came," said Muhammad Rahman, who applied for an I.T. job.
"Before I worked at TJ Maxx so now I want a school job actually so I came here. My friend also works here," said Mishory Alam, who applied for a food service job.
"I haven't worked in many, many, many years but my husband passed away two years ago and it's time for me to give something back," said Linda Stern, who applied for a teacher aide job.
The district is hoping these applicants will become employees, helping students as well.
"We want to offer a full slate for our students," Ginestre said. "We need people to fill these positions so this is another creative way to do it."
If you're interested in applying, click here.