Muscogee County in Georgia will vote on an agreement with the local parks and recreation department this month that would provide free swimming lessons to local kindergartners during school hours.
The Ledger-Enquirer of Columbus, GA reports that the Muscogee County School board discussed the matter this week and will vote on the proposal later this month.
According to the Ledger-Enquirer, a still-unnamed local corporation is offering to foot the bill for the program, estimated at $3,776 per school, with three schools likely to be involved.
The program would run through three different elementary schools in the district. Students with signed permission slips from parents would be transported to the nearby Columbus Aquatic Center during the school day, receiving ten 30-minute swim lesson sessions over a two-week period.
Columbus Parks & Rec department director James Worsley said he became familiar with the idea while living in Greensboro, NC, and has been trying to start a similar program in Columbus since moving there.
“With people drowning in the river, we want to make sure we have a program that starts in the school system,” he said in the Ledger-Enquirer report. “We’re excited about partnering with them.”
The school board will vote on the program at their next meeting, July 20th, 2015.
SC is doing this with 4th grades. Pools are built beside schools to enhance parks.
Our grade school offers an elective to each grade but in Grade1 and 2, the only option is swim lessons once a week for 10 weeks. With the easy access to lakes and streams here, the swim lessons were deemed basic life proofing.