The Spokane Public Schools district needs more bus drivers for the fall, even as many questions remain unanswered about the reopening of buildings during the coronavirus pandemic.

Durham School Services will hold an event Saturday at Joe Albi Stadium from 8 a.m. to noon allowing those qualified to be bus drivers to try their hand behind the wheel.

Durham, which contracts with the school district to provide busing services, is looking to hire an additional 60 people before school begins Sept. 3, said Rhonda McLellan, general manager for Durham in Spokane.

Spokane Public Schools plans to offer the option to attend classes in-person in the fall, or allow families to keep their students home for full distance learning.

Those plans are preliminary, however, as the labor union representing Washington’s educators on Wednesday urged Gov. Jay Inslee to order classes to resume remotely at the beginning of the school year, and half of Spokane school teachers and support staff polled earlier this month by the local union said they wouldn’t feel safe going back to the buildings.

Though the district has not asked how many students will stay home and thus not need transportation services, McLellan said Durham has a good idea of how many drivers they’ll need based on the 160 routes around town.

“The stops don’t change a lot,” she said. “The number of students will.”

Drivers and students will be required to wear masks while on board, and all the windows on the buses will be open to allow for greater air circulation, McLellan said. Buses will be completely disinfected by drivers following every “run,” or each time a bus completes its route, field trip or extracurricular activity.

Seats will be limited to two students each and some seats will be unavailable directly behind the driver to promote social distancing. That’ll drop capacity for each bus to 44 from 48 students, McLellan said.

While Durham is gearing up for another year of providing transportation services, guidance from the state’s Office of Public Instruction is asking school districts to encourage other forms of transportation to class this fall, including biking, walking and drop-offs by caregivers.

Still, bus drivers provide a vital service for students who don’t have other choices, McLellan said.

“They’re the first smile they see at the beginning of the day, and the last smile they see at the end of it,” she said.

That’s the reason Gene Campbell has been driving school buses for the past seven years, first in Boise and now on South Hill routes in Spokane. An instructor for the past year, Campbell guides his pupils with the gentle refrain, “Slow is your friend here.”

“I found this job. It was going to be interim,” said Campbell, whose previous work was in computer systems and information technology. “I fell in love of it. Why? Because of the kids, you can make a difference.”

Campbell acknowledged things would be different this fall, as districts and transportation providers continue to work with health officials about how to make the simple act of transporting students to the front door safe.

“It’s going to be a quite different school year,” he said.

Potential drivers must have had their driver’s licenses for at least five years, and they must also pass a drug test and background check. Drivers also require a permit, an issue that has cropped up for first-time drivers as offices of the Washington Department of Licensing have instituted appointment-only services this summer. Offices have also been closed on Fridays as a result of furloughs intended to reduce government expenses.

“We’ve been giving those people a call as soon as we have an applicant,” McLellan said. Drivers must complete 20 hours of coursework, which has been taking place virtually, as well as 20 hours of road instruction at minimum before they can drive.