$100 bonus offered to first 500 lifeguards to train, work
Goal is to avoid repeat personnel shortage that occurred last year.
Hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s lifeguard shortage, the Austin Parks Foundation is offering a $100 bonus to the first 500 lifeguards who complete their training and first week of work at an Austin city pool.
The city’s Parks and Recreation Department teamed up with the nonprofit foundation to announce the bonuses on Thursday, the day of the first hiring event for summer lifeguards. The foundation will provide the bonuses in the form of a Visa gift card.
“We are excited to partner with the city to offer the Lifeguard Hiring Incentive program,” said Colin Wallis, executive director of the Austin Parks Foundation, in a statement. “Using city pools is a large part of many Austinites’ summertime rituals, and making sure that we create a safe environment is important to us.”
Last year, the city delayed opening 12 of its 34 swimming pools because of a lack of lifeguards. Austin started last summer about 300 lifeguards short of the 750 it needed.
The shortage last year stemmed, in part, from the city expanding the hours and days the pools would be open. In the past, the city had staggered pool openings, but last year the City Council asked the parks department to open all of them at the same time — the Friday immediately after the last day of classes in the Austin school district.
Parks officials hope the $100 bonuses will encourage more lifeguard candidates to sign up early this year.
In a separate initiative, the city partnered with the YMCA of Austin and the Austin school district in January to launch the Swim ATX pilot program, which provides swim instruction to LBJ and Reagan High School students during school hours at city and YMCA pools. In addition to earning P.E. credit, the teens will earn a scholarship that pays for their lifeguard certification training.
The program has about 18 students at LBJ and 30 students at Reagan, a parks spokeswoman said. Students who successfully complete the program and pass a background check can get lifeguard jobs with the city or the YMCA.