Our thanks go to our Parks Department for helping us understand the ins-and-outs of the City’s proposed biannual budget for aquatics. 

1. Eliminated: 

• The Learn to Swim program, which provided free vouchers for swim lessons to 1,300 3rd and 4th graders each year. 62% of these kids were nonswimmers.           

2. Reduced: 

• Lifeguard hours at public beaches on weekdays.  Lifeguards will go on duty at noon instead of 11am on weekdays.  Free lessons at public beaches will continue at a new time.

3. Included (Terrific!):

• Funds to plan for replacing Rainier Beach Community Center and Pool because both facilities have reached the end of their functional lifetimes.
• Funds for repairs at Coleman Pool, plus the conversion of a storage room into an accessible (ADA)  changing room.

4. Missing: 

• Funds for a Comprehensive Aquatics Plan.  The budget includes funds to repair aging facilities, but not to do the long-term planning necessary to modernize our public pool system to meet today’s needs.  The elimination of the Learn to Swim program highlights the need to investigate financing options for long-term needs, as the CAP would do.  This cut reminds us that we need to tackle long-term financing issues for Parks to ensure basic health and safety programming.
• Any additional funding for UV treatment of public pools.  UV is needed to eliminate cryposporidium (an organism that causes illness) and also to allow the use of pool covers for energy efficiency.  This leaves  out Ballard, Coleman, Rainier Beach and possibly Medgar Evers.

What will budget cuts mean to our communities?  We thank Parks for swiftly delivering info on possible impacts:

Lessons:  "62% of those enrolled in the Learn to Swim (LTS) program indicated they were new to swimming. Free lessons at beaches and LTS at pools [reached] some ethnically and economically diverse populations. The information was mailed to families with translations in 11 languages. Many children arrived to register and translate for their parents.  Free swim suits were provided to those with a need. The highest redemption site for the LTS vouchers and free swim suits was Rainier Beach Pool. Demographic statistics on beach lessons is not kept, but based on conversations; they were able to reach families with financial need. "

On Lifeguards:  "There is a concern that we will struggle to find qualified people to work as lifeguards when a summer schedule would generally range between 30 and 34 hours per week (past years was ~35); all work is weather dependent."

[Image:  "2008 Learn to Swim Poster Winner," as seen on the Parks web site.] 

[Updated 10/9/08:  New info:  Parks will keep the free lesson program at public beaches on weekdays. It will open beaches at noon on weekdays instead of the original forecast of 1 pm.]