Long Beach Unified School Bus Driver Guide
Bring a Class B license with air brakes; Long Beach Unified trains you to full licensure and pays $30.05-$37.23 an hour.
🎁 Limited-time: + free California CDL Passenger & School Bus study guide
Long Beach Unified School District is the third-largest district in California, enrolling roughly 64,000 students across 84 schools in Long Beach and on Catalina Island. Its yellow buses serve special-education transportation, field trips, and athletics, while general-education students ride Long Beach Transit free - so driving for LBUSD is a stable public-sector job with a merit-system hiring process behind it. Like districts statewide, LBUSD recruits drivers on an ongoing basis through its Personnel Commission.
Long Beach hires permit-first. To apply you bring a Class B license with air brakes; LBUSD then provides the remaining training and you earn the California Special Driver Certificate (DL 45) by the end of your probationary period. New drivers are placed straight onto the Range 24 salary schedule. This page lays out exactly what you need to bring and how the Personnel Commission hiring process works.
Long Beach Unified at a glance
The essentials, pulled from official sources. The full pay tables, the exact application walkthrough, and the school calendar are in the guide.
How to become a School Bus Driver in Long Beach
The path in order. The guide expands every step with the exact forms, links, and figures for Long Beach Unified.
Confirm you qualify and hold your permit
Long Beach hires permit-first, so you bring a Class B license with air brakes to apply. You must also be at least 18 with a driving record that meets the district's safe-driver standards, and you obtain and submit your own current motor vehicle driving record at your own expense at the time of appointment. A high school diploma or GED is preferred.
Apply online for "Bus Driver"
LBUSD posts openings at governmentjobs.com/careers/longbeachusd, which routes into EDJOIN (edjoin.org). Hiring runs through the Personnel Commission merit system, which places candidates on eligibility lists from competitive examinations. Postings are open until filled, though individual requisitions carry end dates, so apply promptly.
Interview by phone, virtually, or in person
LBUSD offers virtual or phone interviews, or you can walk in to the Transportation Branch (2700 Pine Avenue, Long Beach) between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. to inquire or pre-apply before a job fair. Interviews screen for reliability, safe driving, and comfort working around students.
Clear the screenings after your offer
After a conditional offer you complete a CHP livescan fingerprint check submitted to the California DOJ and FBI, a DOT drug screen, a DOT physical and Medical Examiner's Certificate, and the California DL-51 medical exam. The drug-screen and fingerprinting fees are waived; the DOT physical ($75 to $200) is typically applicant-paid. Who pays the remaining pre-employment costs was not published.
Finish your licensing in district training
LBUSD's Driver Trainer classification runs classroom workshops and behind-the-wheel training that satisfy the federal ELDT rule. You earn the full Class B credentials and the California Special Driver Certificate (DL 45) by the end of your probationary period. The district does not publish a separate trainee wage - new Bus Drivers are hired directly onto the Range 24 salary schedule.
Start your route
You work a 10-month school-year schedule on the CSEA Chapter 2, Unit B salary schedule. Benefits include medical, dental, vision, and life insurance, a CalPERS pension, paid vacation starting at 14 days, 13 sick days, and 14 paid holidays. Catalina Island assignments add a $4.2247 per hour Branch Assignment Premium.
What's in the full Long Beach Unified guide
35+ pages, twelve chapters, written in plain English — everything above in full detail, plus the parts that change year to year.
Right now, includes a free California CDL Passenger & School Bus endorsement study guide — the exact material on the two written tests, so you pass the first time. Bundled with your Long Beach Unified guide at no extra cost, for a limited time.
The real pay tables
Every step of the Long Beach Unified pay scale, benefits, and the split-shift schedule — the numbers that decide if this fits your life.
The application, walked through
Exactly what to submit and which documents to attach, so you are not knocked out on a technicality.
The interview
The three things every interviewer is really asking, and what to highlight. (Free in the sample.)
Screenings & paid CDL training
Every screening after your offer, who pays for what, and how the district trains you toward your CDL.
The school calendar
This year's Long Beach Unified calendar — work days, holidays, and breaks — so you know your real schedule.
Managing a bus full of kids
The passenger-management techniques veteran drivers swear by. (Also free in the sample.)
See inside before you buy
A few real pages from the manual — the interview and passenger-management chapters — so you can judge the quality yourself.
Long Beach Unified bus driver questions
Do I need a CDL to apply in Long Beach?
You need a permit: a Class B license with air brakes at the time you are hired. LBUSD then provides the remaining training, and you earn the California Special Driver Certificate (DL 45) - the state's School Bus certificate - by the end of your probationary period.
What does Long Beach Unified pay its bus drivers?
Bus Drivers are on Range 24, about $30.05 to $37.23 per hour under the current schedule, which reflects the 1% CSEA Unit B raise. Catalina Island assignments add a $4.2247 per hour Branch Assignment Premium on top of the base rate.
How does hiring work at LBUSD?
Through the Personnel Commission merit system. You apply at governmentjobs.com/careers/longbeachusd, and candidates are placed on eligibility lists built from competitive examinations. The district recruits bus drivers on an ongoing basis rather than in one-time hiring waves.
What's the free CDL study guide?
For a limited time, every district guide comes bundled with a free study guide for your state's CDL Passenger and School Bus endorsements — the two written tests you'll take. It covers exactly what's on those tests so you can pass the first time, at no extra cost.
Is this an official guide from the school district?
No. It is an independent preparation guide, not affiliated with or endorsed by any school district. It organizes the public information into one clear manual so you do not have to dig for it.
How do I get the guide after I pay?
Instantly. Checkout takes about a minute, then you get a download link on the screen and by email. It is a PDF you can open on any phone, tablet, or computer and keep.
Get hired in Long Beach Unified.
The whole hiring process in one guide — pay, forms, contacts, and the calendar, all in order.