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Parents warn of swim-scheduling crunch as Colonial SD pool closures loom; district asks groups to submit requests by Aug. 1
Summary
At a June 30 Colonial SD board meeting a parent asked for transparency and fairness in allocating pool time after a community center pool will be closed for about six months; a board representative said facilities staff would ask user groups to submit requests by Aug. 1 and to follow Policy 707.
A parent told the Colonial SD Board on June 30 that planned renovations closing a community center pool for about six months will create a “scheduling crunch” for local swim clubs, and asked the district for transparency and fairness in how pool time is allocated.
At the board’s business meeting, the parent said their three children swim competitively and that families have been forced to travel outside the district to find practice pools, including Arcadia University and locations in Fort Washington. “I’m asking for some fairness and some transparency,” the parent said, adding that families need schedules well in advance because many swimmers train three to five days a week.
The parent identified two local swim organizations that use district facilities: Plimfoy Marsh Aquatic Club (DRAC) and Colonial Community Aquatics (CCA), and said both have historically coexisted but scheduling broke down last year. The parent said the closure of the community center pool for renovations will increase demand on remaining facilities and will affect other users, including Special Olympics groups.
A board representative said district facilities staff had already been contacted and that facilities manager Mr. Lally had been asked to notify user groups. “We ask everybody to submit their request no later than August 1 so that we can allocate time as equitably as possible. And I also ask them to send to each of the user groups Policy 707 so that each of the organizations who submit time can adhere to these policies,” the board representative said.
The board representative’s remarks followed an exchange of emails with user-group leaders over the weekend, the representative said. The board did not adopt new policy language at the meeting; rather, staff were directed to request schedule submissions and to circulate Policy 707 to all user groups so allocations can be made under existing rules.
No additional public commenters addressed pool scheduling at the meeting, and the board moved on to other agenda items.
