Saucon Valley School Board Discusses Pool Concerns

The Saucon Valley School Board voted 5-1 at its Oct. 11 meeting to not charge student athletes a fee to use the pool at  approved the district's 2011-2012 recreational swim fees.

School board member Susan Baxter said the suggestion of charging student athletes to pay to use the pool is a recent idea, and in the past athletes were never charged to use the pool.

She also said the swim fees charged to members of the public have not been approved the past two years, and requested that they be brought before the board each year.

Board President Lachlan Peeke said he is concerned about athletes who use the pool for rehabilitation.

“Lifeguards aren’t rehab specialists,” he said.

Peeke said he feels that athletes in rehab should be supervised by coaches or trainers.

In addition, Peeke said athletes have a right to use the pool for conditioning, but they should not go to the pool to “horse around.”

He also questioned whether or not one lap lane is enough.

School board member and former director of the Saucon Valley Recreational Swim Program, Michael Karabin, said one lane is sufficient because there were never entire teams that used the pool at one time.

“We never ran into an overabundance of athletes using the pool at one time,” Karabin said.

As for the issue of safety, school board member Sandra Miller suggested the district provide a waiver to both student athletes and the general public acknowledging that the pool does not offer physical therapists and that all swimmers do so at their own risk.

The approved pool fees are as follows: $75 for an individual season pass, $130 for a family season pass, $20 for a monthly pass, $21 for seven lap visits, $15 for six youth visits and $5 for one swim.

The senior rates (62 and older) are as follows: $38 for an individual season pass, $65 for a family season pass and $10 for a monthly pass.