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Wichita is not alone. Roeland Park in Johnson County recently spent $1.6 million to renovate its community aquatic center, adding new slides, a climbing wall, shade structures and splash pads. The grand opening was Memorial Day weekend. But the pool will open for limited hours only Tuesdays, Thursdays and weekends because there aren’t enough guards to staff it. Roeland Park boosted lifeguard pay to $12 an hour, up from $10 an hour. Other cities offer signing bonuses and other perks or recruit younger teens. Prairie Village cut back its pool hours this summer because of the shortage. So will the city of Shawnee in Johnson County. ....
Your local swimming pool could cut its hours because kids aren't taking lifeguard jobs kake.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from kake.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Prospective lifeguards practice deep-water saves during a certification class at Wichita Northwest High School. Teenagers and young adults are opting for year-round work, making traditional summer jobs increasingly harder to fill. WICHITA, Kansas During a normal year, Brian Hill doesn’t have much trouble hiring enough lifeguards to staff Wichita’s six public swimming pools. Not in this pandemic year. “Usually I’m about 80% staffed by February,” said Hill, Wichita’s aquatics director. “This year, I was about 10% staffed.” Lifeguarding took a hit last summer, when the COVID-19 pandemic closed most gyms, water parks and community pools. High school and college students who would normally work as guards took the summer off or found other jobs. Training classes were cancelled. So were junior lifeguard programs for 11- to 14-year-olds. ....
During a normal year, Brian Hill doesn’t have much trouble hiring enough lifeguards to staff Wichita’s public swimming pools. But this isn’t a normal year. ....