Sumner School District Responds to Pool Closure Questions

For those concerned about the , the has posted the following information on its website:

Update on Pool Operations: May 2011

Pool closure, specifically a recommendation to discontinue operation of the facility for high school aquatics teams, was included in a resolution at the April 27 Special Meeting of the School Board. The Board tabled the item and there is no immediate Board action necessary relative to pool closure or future use of the facility.

It is the District’s intent at this time to continue to offer high school aquatic programs. Athletic Director Tim Thomsen is currently working to identify an alternate location for high school swim teams in a neighboring community pool. In the coming weeks there will be a meeting with coaches, students and families to discuss possible practice times and pool locations.

Nothing with regards to pool operations has changed for this year. Current pool operations are as they have been all of this school year. Last August the pool closed to the public; the District pool has no public hours, and no pool staff. The pool has not been available to the public for open swim since last August. This has reduced the cost of operating the facility through elimination of year-round staff and some overhead at the pool.

The pool is currently operating for our high school aquatics programs and as a rental facility. The District is renting the pool to the Titans Swim Club and Rec Department. Under this operating scenario current annual utility costs are $52,000 (natural gas); $ 81,000 (electric); $14,000 (water/sewer) for combined cost of $147,000. There are no ongoing staffing costs.

This spring a pilot program to offer swim lessons and a lap swim program through the Rec Department was successful. The Rec Department scheduled swim lessons and when classes filled, hired instructors and "opened" the facility during the lesson time.

The District is offering a summer swim lesson program this year through the Rec Department in response to community concerns about children learning to swim and to garner as much revenue from the pool as possible in the current budget year. However, these classes are not essential to the education program of the District.

Background Information
A committee of school and community people developed a plan for facility development and maintenance during the next ten years. One of the recommendations in the plan was to continue to operate the pool until Bonney Lake High School opened. It was recommended that at that time, the school district might decide to continue to keep the pool open, or it might decide to close it, depending on costs and circumstances. Another option might be to turn the pool over to another agency to operate it.

Q: Why would anyone recommend turning over the pool to some other agency, or closing it?
A: The cost to the school district to operate and maintain the pool is significant. In times when money for schools is tight, the school district has to trim costs wherever it can. The district uses the pool for one PE class per quarter and four swim teams, the rest of the pool time is used by the community. The facilities committee felt that the community should own and operate the pool because they use the bulk of the time in the pool. Community ownership would allow the school district to direct the money that is being spent on pool operations and maintenance back into the classroom.

Q: I thought the pool fees paid for operating the pool. Why does it cost the school district any money?
A: Pool fees cover most of the direct costs for the time the community uses the pool. They are not high enough to cover all the costs, and the school district pays the difference. In past years, it cost over $200,000 of school money each year to keep the pool going. With new, expert management, the school district has been able to reduce those costs to under $100,000 per year. Some of this covers the costs for the PE and swim team programs. The rest goes to pay for insurance, utilities, and maintenance at the pool.

Q: How much money is estimated to maintain the pool?
A: The pool has not had a major remodel since 1985. It will cost nearly $5 million to fix up the building, the pumps, the boiler, and all the systems to keep the pool running. Several of the major components of the pool are past their normal life span, and are in danger of breaking down. The school district does not have money to make major repairs, so it is doing everything it can do keep things going through normal maintenance.

Q: We need a pool in this area. How can we make sure we keep this pool open?
A: The school district has begun discussions with other agencies to see how we can all work together to keep the pool going. There are a couple of possibilities. One possibility is to ask the voters for $5 million to remodel the pool and for extra money to operate the pool each year. Another possibility is to find an agency in our area that would take ownership of the pool and operate and maintain it. There are organizations like the YMCA which run other pools, and perhaps one of them would see the possibilities for a pool here. Such an organization might want to remodel the current pool, or it might want to build a new pool.