Lifeguard, counselor shortage could hurt summer camps, pools
This time last year, the pandemic was already putting a damper on summer plans, with the Lehigh Valley’s three cities making the difficult decision to keep swimming pools closed, and municipalities across the region cutting back on programs because of restrictions on crowd sizes.
This year, it may be a shortage of lifeguards and camp counselors that force local officials to make tough decisions. Bethlehem, for example, has seen a nearly 30% drop in lifeguard applications and may not open all its pools because of the lack of staffing.
The shortage of lifeguards and camp counselors is exacerbated by a surge of parents who are enrolling their children in summer camps. With enrollment at an all-time high at day camps, the The Greater Valley YMCA may have to start turning kids away if it doesn’t find more counselors soon.
“I’ve been with the YMCA for 30 years and worked at branches in four different states and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Dave Fagerstrom, CEO and president of the Greater Valley YMCA.
It’s not completely clear why there’s a short
age. Fagerstrom speculates it’s because many of the workers who fill those roles are collegeage students who haven’t been vaccinated yet.
The Greater Valley YMCA operates four pools, with a fifth expected to open at the Slate Belt YMCA in Pen Argyl in the next couple months. The organization also provides lifeguards for seven municipal pools throughout the Lehigh Valley.
At any given time there are 40 lifeguards on staff, but that number easily doubles over the summer, reaching up to 100 lifeguards, Fagerstrom said. Right now, he estimates the YMCA needs 50 more lifeguards for summer.
“I think part of it is that when COVID hit, the YMCAs shut down, and that shut down the pools,” he said. “We didn’t have pools for five months this year. We think there’s a ripple effect here.”
The YMCA is short staffed, even for the pools it is running now. If lifeguards don’t start applying, the organization may have to limit pool hours or the number of swimmers allowed in. They already require advanced reservations at the pools operating now and limit the number of those swimming laps to one person per lane as a precaution against the coronavirus, Fagerstrom said.
Enrollment in summer day programs has peaked as parents and kids are anxious to get out of the house after a year of the pandemic.
Normally by this time of year, about 30% to 40% of the YMCA’s day camp slots are full, but at some sites enrollment is up to 80%. The majority of campers are new to the program, Fagerstrom said.
The YMCA needs at least 50 more camp counselors, and if they don’t get them soon they may start turning kids away.
“We have probably hired less than 20 counselors right now, which is extremely worrying,” he said.
The Jewish Community Center of the Lehigh Valley in Allentown is recruiting lifeguards, for their indoor pool and a new outdoor pool set to open this summer, said Executive Director Eric Lightman.
“We are concerned about a general staffing shortage for our summer camp programs, including lifeguards, counselors and activity specialists,” he said. “We are not in panic mode yet, but we are keenly aware that staffing may be more challenging than previous years and we are working aggressively on recruitment.”
The JCC is also experiencing a boom in enrollment for its summer day programs. There were 121 children enrolled last summer. This year, 218 have already enrolled, Lightman said. They had 15 seasonal staffers last year, and are looking to hire about 30 this year, including counselors, activity specialists and lifeguards.
Bethlehem, which runs summer programs throughout the city as well as public tennis courts and a clubhouse at Sand Island, has already hired the 22 seasonal employees it needs to run those programs, said city Business Administrator Eric Evans.
But the city is facing a significant lifeguard shortage, with the number of applicants down nearly 30% this year. At this time last year, there were 84 applicants, but so far there are only 24 this year.
The shortage prompted city officials last week to increase lifeguard wages from $9 per hour to $10 per hour, Evans said.
So far, there are only enough lifeguards signed up to open two of the city’s five pools.
“Even if we find someone willing and able, we need to certify them. We can do that once it gets warm enough and we can get them in the water, but then you’re really getting close to the pools being opened,” Evans said.
City officials contacted the 84 lifeguards who had signed on last year, but it wasn’t clear why so many of them rejected the job this year.
“Since we didn’t open the pools last year because of the pandemic, they could have gone out and found other jobs,” Evans said.
Bethlehem operates the Clearview Pool on Pinehurst Road, the Stark Pool on Livingston Street, the Westside Pool on 13th Avenue, the Yasko Park Pool and Splash Park on Atlantic Street, and their flagship Memorial Pool.
Memorial Pool, the city’s largest, has been closed since 2018 as it underwent renovations including modern slides and other water amusements. A beachlike entry was also added where small children could splash under the watchful eyes of their parents.
Memorial was set to open last year, but didn’t because of the pandemic.
Evans said opening Memorial is a priority for city officials this year. An official date has yet to be set, but they are hopeful it will open by mid-June.
Behind Memorial, they also hope to open Yasko Pool on the Southside and possibly Clearview on the West Side. It is likely Stark Pool, in North Bethlehem, will remain closed for minor repairs. It’s not yet clear whether the Westside pool willopen this year, Evans said.
In Easton, the local YMCA provides lifeguards to manage the city’s Heil Pool on Packer Avenue and Eddyside Pool on Route 611.
Dave Hopkins, Easton’s director of public works, is aware of the lifeguard shortage.
“I have been advised there is concern about the potential of a lifeguard shortage, however, we only recently started the hiring process so I do not know for certain at this point if that will be the case,” Hopkins said. “If it is, then we can adjust accordingly.”
Allentown operates four pools: Cedar Beach, Irving, Jordan and Mack. The city also operates two spray parks at Bucky Boyle Park and the Old Fairgrounds park.
City spokesman Mike Moore said city officials still haven’t hired the 48 lifeguards they intend to, but they are off to a decent start. The Cedar Beach and Mack pools will open June 19.
The majority of the playground leaders the city needs for the season have been hired, and city officials plan to add some new summer programs this year.
Allentown did receive a donation to cover certifications and background checks for seasonal employees, which will help attract those employees.
City Council last week thanked City Center Investment Corp. for donating $7,000 to cover the $55 background checks and $200 lifeguard certification course fees for Parks and Recreation employees. This required expense has resulted in a recruitment hurdle in the past to hiring city residents, particularly those from economically disadvantaged neighborhoods and diverse ethnicities, officials said.
Morning Call reporter Andrew Wagaman contributed to this report.