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Lifeguard shortage affecting Houston pool openings
FOX 26 Reporter Gabby Hart has more on what the city of Houston is doing to get more lifeguards hired.
HOUSTON - All over the nation, public swimming pools are grappling with a lifeguard shortage, it’s the reason so many pools in the city of Houston haven’t been open.
There are 37 public pools in the city, but only 36 lifeguards, and there should be at least six guards on duty at each pool. Local communities are feeling the impact of this lifeguard shortage.
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Leroy Maura Jr. is the superintendent for the City of Houston Parks and Recreation, he says prior to the pandemic, they recruited lifeguards in local high schools. But once the pandemic hit, that stopped.
Maura says they usually have 180 employees working at these pools each summer, and at least 150 of those workers come back the summer after. However, this year, that was different.
"We were only able to hire 50 people, not because the funds weren’t there, not because the pools weren’t ready, but because people were not applying for the job," Maura said.
Only of those 50 employees, 24 returned in 2022. The city is in such desperate need, that they’re offering a $300 signing bonus to anyone who completes lifeguard training and starts working for them, it's the first time they've ever provided such an incentive.
Cynthia Stubbins has been training lifeguards in the Houston area for nearly 20 years. She says for starters, lifeguards need a more competitive pay, and the fact that they need to pay for their own training could also play a role in this shortage.
"Lifeguard training costs $180 to $200 for weekend training, and in addition, they have to pay for their own equipment," Stubbins said.
Anyone age 15 and up can be a lifeguard, as long as they’re a good swimmer, but in order for people to become good swimmers, Stubbins says they need access to the public pools that are currently closed.
"If we don’t create a community of swimmers, if we’re not learning all these skills as we go up, then years from now we have problems like today," she said.
RELATED: Houston swimming pool schedule: Phased opening, hours, locations
In the meantime, the city of Houston is using the staff that they do have and rotating which pools will be open during certain weeks.
"We have tracks where we open six pools, three days a week, and we take the same staff and open up the track b schedule of six pools, three days a week" Maura explained.
Click here if you’d like to find out if or when the public pool in your neighborhood will be opening.
For more information on how to become a lifeguard, click here.