The Jacksonville Parks and Recreation Department is preparing for summer despite current temperatures in the 70s.
At Monday's joint meeting of the City Council and Duval County School Board, Parks and Recreation Director Darryl Joseph said the department has increased the hiring of lifeguards.
Last summer, more than a dozen public pools did not open until July due to staffing issues.
Joseph said he met with about a dozen students on Feb. 24 — from parts of Jacksonville that the department didn't cover last year — and they expressed interest in becoming lifeguards. .
“I guarantee you there will be no licking this year,” Joseph said. “We are preparing. We started in October. We started with recruiting. Many schools held job fairs. We were there. We're going to go wherever we feel there are adults. We're going to go wherever there are adults.”
The City of Jacksonville is increasing the hourly wage for lifeguards to $18, streamlining information flyers and working with Duval County Public Schools to send lifeguard information to students' email addresses.
Councilman Ken Amaro said it's embarrassing for the city that the pool won't open until midsummer. He said expectations will be high this summer and the community should not be disappointed again.
Jacksonville has 34 municipal pools, more than one-third of which are located on local school campuses.
“These schools are in our neighborhoods, so they're extensions of our neighborhoods. And if there's a pool, the kids in those neighborhoods will definitely want to use it during the summer. ”
The Parks and Recreation Department is scheduled to hold its next full-course training session the week of March 11th at the Cecil Aquatic Center. There will also be a recertification course on March 16th at Charles Clark Park and Pool.
For more information about becoming a lifeguard, contact the Parks and Recreation Department at bealifeguard@coj.net.
Lead image: Zai Tucker is a lifeguard at Emmett Reid Community Pool in Brentwood. Minutes before the pool opens for the summer in July 2023, Tucker stopped to take a photo. Mr. Tucker has been a lifeguard for five years. “I know a lot of people. I like seeing acquaintances and friends who live here. It's cool,” Tucker said. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
