1-Color
May 22, 2014 Douglas County, Colorado | Volume 27, Issue 27 A publication of
highlandsranchherald.net
Principal put on leave for alleged misconduct Move involving Rock Ridge’s Sorg comes as parents protest district review of teacher ratings By Jane Reuter
jreuter @coloradocommunitymedia.com
Trainees go through a drowning simulation during a lifeguard training exercise at the Southridge Recreation Center on May 18. Photos by Hannah Garcia
HRCA lifeguards dive into training Father of drowning victim: `you are the last, best defense’ By Hannah Garcia
hgarcia @coloradocommunitymedia.com Pools typically evoke thoughts of warm weather and fun with friends, but for lifeguards and a family from Centennial concerns run deep over possible injuries and death in those chlorinated confines. With the swimming season underway, the Highlands Ranch Community Association brought all of its new lifeguards to one location for its annual training at the Southridge Recreation Center, closing down the pools to patrons. “We typically do it at each location (one of four recreation centers), but brought all of them together for first time in the interest of consistency,” aquatics coordinator Janice Weed said. This year, the staff brought in Bill
Christopher Houser practices reviving an infant at the Southridge Recreation Center during a May 18 lifeguard trainings ession.
O’Melia, whose son Drennen drowned in a Centennial pool in 2010, to speak publicly for the first time about drowning prevention to the new hires. If it’s a question of vigilance, Weed wants her lifeguards to be prepared for anything that might happen in the organization’s community pools. The staff holds in-service training each month as well, Weed said. Training covers any situation, from enforcing pool rules to resuscitating victims to fishing out a pool patron with a neck injury. For spinal injuries, lifeguards should have the victim out of the pool on and the backboard in three minutes, Weed said. “It’s always life over limb,” Weed said. “If someone is injured in the pool, we want to get them out as quickly as possible.” The association also performs internal audits regularly to assess its lifeguards and its procedures, Weed said. Around 250 new lifeguards were at the annual training seminar. Weed said HRCA will have a total of about 300 in the new hiring class by the time their fully staffed for each of the organization’s four recreation centers. O’Melia, who founded the Drennen’s Dreams Foundation with his wife Melissa in 2012, spoke to the new lifeguards about his son’s passing on June 6, 2010, and all of the wrong decisions by lifeguard staff that may have contributed to Drennen’s death. “I only thought I’d talk in public about construction and building,” O’Melia said. “But life threw me a curveball, and now I talk a lot about water safety.” O’Melia played the 911 call from that day from a lifeguard who said that Drennen was not breathing or conscious but was constantly “throwing up” during resuscitation efforts at the Centennial Country Club. Drennen had just started his seventh season swimming competitively and just competed the day before he drowned. O’Melia showed the training class a video of his son darting through his lane on June 5, 2010 and asked the training class, “how many of you would think this swimmer would need special attention?” O’Melia said that the AED on site was not used while trying to revive the boy and that Drennen was discovered submerged 5 feet from an unmanned lifeguard standing by fellow children who were attending at birthday party who “noticed his color was not right,” not by lifeguards on duty.
Bill O’Melia, the father of 12-year-old Drennen who drowned in a guarded pool in 2010, speaks publicly for the first time to a group of new HRCA lifeguards during a May 18 training session at Southridge Recreation Center. An expert at a civil trial said that Drenner was submerged for at least five minutes but probably closer to 10, according to O’Melia. The longer a drowning victim is in the water, their chances for survival decline rapidly. “After four years, there are good days and bad days,” he said. “There’s not been one single day since June 6, 2010 that we don’t think about Drennen. All of this tragedy because of the choices made.” “You are the last, best defense against drowning incidents,” O’Melia said, pointing out that some parents or guardians may not be as vigilant when they know lifeguards are around. “Fair or not, this is the world you’ve chosen to participate in. Patrons are counting on you.” As for Drennen’s Dreams Foundation, the O’Melias are in the process of fundraising and forming partnerships to spread pool safety awareness. A second annual “Splash Dash” is scheduled for June 8 at Arapahoe High School. “We hope to grow it as large as we can,” O’Melia said, citing a goal to reach out to smaller organizations who don’t have the same resources as HRCA. “It’s a positive response to a negative situation.” For more information, visit www.drennensdreams.org.
Rock Ridge Elementary School’s principal was put on administrative leave under allegations of misconduct on May 16, the same day parents and students protested in defense of the school’s teachers. Amber Sorg already had submitted her resignation in early 2014, and planned to work until June 30. Her leave comes six weeks ahead of that planned last day. Douglas County Sorg School District officials aren’t saying why Sorg was put on leave, noting it is a personnel issue. In a May 19 letter to Rock Ridge parents, DCSD’s assistant superintendent of elementary education Ted Knight called the situation “regrettable,” and asked parents to respect Sorg’s privacy. “I know that this will be difficult news for many of our students and we feel that it is best shared by parents, so we encourage you to have a conversation with your child tonight about the change,” Knight’s message read. Incoming principal Michelle Colton will be brought on board earlier than planned “to help keep the learning environment as stable as possible,” according to Knight. Parents think they know the reason Sorg, who became principal in 2012, was put on leave. “I believe this happened because parents dared to voice their opinion on our children’s world class education,” said Jen Johnson, who has two kids at Rock Ridge and participated in the May 16 protest. “We collaborated together, and spoke out against our teachers being bullied and demoralized. I believe Amber is being punished because of parent actions.” Johnson said the atmosphere at her children’s Castle Rock school was strained when she came to do her volunteer shift May 19. “There were police officers outside our school, and two more in cars in the church parking lot across the street,” she said. “When I walked in, the air feels different. Teachers who would normally come up (to me) didn’t, because they’re afraid. No one was talking to anyone besides parents asking, `What the hell is going on in our school?’ “This is our neighborhood, where my kids are growing up. To watch and feel this happening in my own school is sad, and it makes me angry. It shouldn’t have happened.” Principal continues on Page 13
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