Pool Concerns Ebb, Swimming Resumes
Parents of some of the Amagansett School’s youngest students reported last week that the school administration had restored the swimming program at the Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter for 4-year-olds in the school’s prekindergarten program.
The program had been suspended in mid-April, with Eleanor Tritt, the district superintendent, sending a memo to prekindergarten families saying the school would not be participating this year. She cited “certain issues concerning ventilation in the pool area as well as overall water quality” as the reasons for stopping the swimming lessons.
“These concerns have been documented by the Suffolk County Department of Health and reported in the local press,” the memo read. “We have been advised that the Y.M.C.A. is planning to correct these deficiencies in the coming months. Therefore, we feel it is in the best interest of the health and safety of our students to postpone the swimming program for pre-K until these concerns have been addressed.”
However, in response to a parent inquiry with the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, Jane Sisalima, a representative of the Division of Environmental Quality’s swimming pool program, said inspections conducted in January and February found “no public health hazards.” The Y.M.C.A. closed for a week in mid-March for routine maintenance and a few upgrades. Complaints about air quality at the Y.M.C.A. pool have persisted for several years.
“The Y.M.C.A. East Hampton RECenter continues to be compliant with Suffolk County Department of Health and a leader in national Y.M.C.A. standard operating procedures,” Glenn Vickers, the center’s executive director, said in an email. “In addition to several scheduled capital improvements, ranging from new heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, and ultraviolet filter, both the Y and our partners continue to enhance our operations as we serve record high year-round usage from our entire community.”
Some parents were informed that the program had been reinstated via phone calls. Britton Bistrian, who is an emergency medical technician and was a member of the first class of junior lifeguards in the town’s lifeguarding program, said in an email she was thrilled the program will continue.
“It is a disservice to our children to discontinue a program that does nothing but teach them a necessary life skill,” Ms. Bistrian said. “Further, as an E.M.T., I have witnessed firsthand what a danger, and sometimes ultimate tragedy, water can pose to our youth. We should arm them with education, skills, and respect for swimming at every opportunity that we have, especially living in a town surrounded by water.”
Christine Sciulli, another parent, said she hopes the program will help better acclimate her daughter, a hesitant young swimmer, to the water.
“I’ve tried swimming lessons — private lessons, group lessons, solo lessons. Nothing has worked. I think being with a group of her peers will make a difference,” Ms. Sciulli said. “To me it is actually an important program for her to be a part of, especially before the summer. Trying to prevent drowning and promote water safety is more important than concerns about water quality issues that are nonexistent.”
Ms. Tritt responded to a request for comment by saying in an email, “Children are enjoying swimming, and we do believe that it is very valuable for all children to learn how to swim.”