State breathes life into lifeguard training

Countless public pools opened over the Memorial Day weekend as schools let out and summer approaches. But whether they remain open throughout the season is another matter.

e state of Colorado is boosting aid along the Front Range and across the state to help local pools avoid that outcome.

Gov. Jared Polis announced nancial help on May 30 for nearly 50 cities and districts as part of the Lifeguard Training Initiative — a follow-up to his administration’s Pools Special Initiative, launched last summer.

e initiative was announced early this month at the Northglenn Recreation Center, along with administrators, local o cials, lawmakers and community members.

“We are making a splash with this exciting support for lifeguards, part of our ongoing work to make sure that pools can safely open earlier, expand hours, and stay open longer this summer,” Polis said in his announcement. “We are thrilled that so many local governments across the state applied for this funding so that families, friends, and neighbors can dive right into the summer.” e grants, implemented by the state’s local a airs and labor departments, ranged from $1,000 requests to $20,000, the maximum. In the end, the state allocated mixed amounts, but exhausted almost all of the available funds, leaving just $200 to potentially allocate supplementally..

South Suburban Parks and Recreation District (SSPRD), which reported a signi cant shortage of lifeguards earlier in the month, received $10,700 — the highest-allocated amount awarded to more than a dozen districts or cities. Cities like Aurora and Boulder received the same amount.

Part of the shortage lies with the expensive cost of training lifeguards. Many prospective employees may be dissuaded by the idea of paying to obtain lifeguard certi cation. ough it won’t solve the main shortage problem, having the funding helps, said SSPRD Aquatics Manager Karl Brehm, who came down from a lifeguard stand himself to talk to Colorado Community Media.

“It will help us reach a demographic that is lacking in having the funds upfront to start,” Brehm said.

“With the grant, we will defer the payment of those [lifeguard] certi - cation costs.”

A full-course lifeguard training at South Suburban through Red Cross costs $175. Community First Aid, CPR and AED training/blended learning costs $80. But after 75 hours of work, South Suburban reimburses course fees [excluding the $40 certi cation fee].

Other communities received smaller amounts. e City of ornton got $6,892, Commerce City, $1,462, and Parker, $4,499. e Town of Castle Rock received $7,873 and Brighton received $1,687.

A national lifeguard shortage affects roughly a third of public pools throughout the country. Colorado has struggled similarly. e state grant money aims to help train and retain lifeguards, which can be difcult to do these days, according to Brehm.

“I have seen, more and more, less interest in the position,” Brehm told Colorado Community Media in May.

Brehm said South Suburban, like many other area pools, must hire throughout the season to try and maintain strong employee numbers. e funds from the state help provide time for pools to keep hiring and training ongoing, Brehm added. He described the support as not a favor, however, but a public service.

“It hearkens to a safety situation. People want to have the pools open. We want to have them open. But there’s a barrier that stands there,” Brehm said in response to the funding. “Having the state recognize that it is something that people want, and there’s a barrier to it, I look at it as a civic responsibility. ere is a need, and it is being met.”

Castle Rock

Steve Zansberg, Marshall’s attorney, argued that Colorado open meetings law prohibits elected ocials from any conversations about public business outside of public meetings, regardless of whether formal action is taken.

“All of those conversations of public business were meetings under the open meetings law, which de nes a meeting as any kind of gathering convened to discuss public business,” Zansberg said. “It doesn’t matter if a decision was made.” e parties also disagreed whether Peterson and Williams’ meeting with Wise constituted an ultimatum for Wise to resign or be red.

In a recording of the meeting, submitted as evidence in the trial, Peterson told Wise if he didn’t want to resign, the board would move forward with termination.

“If you call us Monday and say ‘No, Mike, I don’t think I’d like to resign, I’d like to move forward with a termination,’ then we can get to a special meeting and appoint a hearing o cer,” Peterson said.

In testimony on Monday, Peterson said he, Williams and Wise discussed Wise’s options regarding ending his contract, but an ultima - tum was never issued.

“We did not say ‘Superintendent you need to resign or else,’ we discussed the resignation as one of the many options he had available,” Peterson said.

In addition to arguments that the board didn’t violate open meetings law, Blue said if the judge nds serial meetings are illegal, he should decide that the board xed any violation of the law by holding the Feb. 4, 2022, meeting where they discussed and voted on Wise’s termination publicly.

“ e Feb. 4 meeting was a threehour long, properly convened meeting, in which the directors debated the issue and voted,” Blue said. “ e only conclusion this court can reach is that was a cure.”

Zansberg said the subsequent meeting does not x violations of open meetings law because the Feb. 4 meeting happened after Marshall sued the board.

“(Blue) has cited no case in Colorado where a public body cured an improperly made decision after a lawsuit challenging that decision was led,” Zansberg said.

Following testimony and arguments, Holmes said he would issue a written ruling within the week.

As of April 6, the school district has spent around $152,000 on legal fees in this case.

For updates on possible verdicts, visit the website at coloradocommunitymedia.com.

Turn To The Colorado Sun For News Across The State

The Colorado Sun is a journalist-owned, award-winning news outlet that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself.

In this way, The Sun contributes to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado.

The Sun, launched in 2018, is committed to fact-based, in-depth and nonpartisan journalism. It covers everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education.

Now, The Colorado Sun co-owns this and other Colorado Community Media newspapers as a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy. The Sun is CCM’s partner for statewide news.

For Colorado Sun stories, opinions and more, and to support The Sun’s misssion as a member or subscriber, visit coloradosun.com.