After years of lifeguard shortage, Houston pools to reopen

The Eastwood Park municipal pool looks different in May than in previous summers: there’s water in it.

After closing public pools in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the city of Houston struggled to reopen these summer staples during record-breaking heat waves. In 2022, only 12 of 38 have opened; last summer, the city was able to open 23 pools three days a week.

This year, the Houston Parks and Recreation Department has set a goal of opening 37 aquatic centers across the city, representing all but one of the Tidwell Community Center pool, which is under mandatory maintenance.

“We intend to open all the pools as soon as we have staff available,” said Ray Derouen Jr., aquatics manager for the city parks department.

Opening all pools would rectify an obvious inequity brought to City Hall’s attention last year via the Houston Landing report. A Landing analysis of the city’s open pools in 2023 found that the median household income in ZIP codes where the city opened a public pool was 22% higher than the median income in ZIP codes where public pools are remained closed.

Neighborhoods where pools remained dry in 2023 were also home to more residents of color: in ZIP codes where city pools remained closed, only 12.5% ​​of residents are white; in zip codes with at least one open municipal swimming pool, the share is around 21 percent.

“It’s crucial that we do this,” said City Council member Letitia Plummer, who was outspoken about the need to open more pools last summer. “Many black and brown communities don’t have access to it. And it’s going to be very hot this summer. They’re already saying we’re going to see higher than normal temperatures.

Public swimming pools are a necessary municipal service, she continued. “I don’t want our pools to be something that’s more of a luxury, because I think that’s what we’ve seen.”

Public swimming pools as a city priority

Mayor John Whitmire said in a statement Thursday that opening all of the city’s pools is a priority for his administration.

“I see the value in kids having the opportunity to swim and play in a pool during the summer instead of being sedentary or having too much free time and getting into trouble,” Whitmire said. “We are doing our best to recruit lifeguards and prepare all of our pools. I let the park superintendent know that this is a priority and that the department is working hard to achieve our goal.

While water has been pumped into long-empty pools, Eika Madison, administrative manager of the parks department, warns that “opening the pools depends on integrating the necessary qualified and trained lifeguard personnel,” a feat which has proven insurmountable in recent years. Houston – like many other cities across the country – is facing a shortage of lifeguards.

Derouen said the department will know by mid-May whether it has recruited enough lifeguards to staff all of the city’s public pools, which are expected to open Memorial Day weekend.

THE The pools will open three days a week, as they did last year, to double the impact the staff can have on the city, Derouen noted.

To attract lifeguards, the parks department offers a $500 incentive to lifeguards who work all summer. Pay rates for lifeguards will start at $16 per hour and increase to $18 per hour for head lifeguards and $20 for aquatic center supervisors.

That salary structure remains unchanged from last year, when the city hired 130 lifeguards. Also unchanged: the requirement that lifeguards be at least 16 years old by May 31, despite the fact that the state allows 15-year-olds to be hired for the position.

Employing young lifeguards has been a boon to other cities, including Austin, which hired 1,121 guards last year, about 30 to 40 percent of whom were 15 years old.

Houston considered lowering its age requirement, but the city’s law department advised it to keep the minimum as it was, Plummer says.

“It’s a shame they have to be 16,” she said. “It has been legalized, and I don’t think it will change, due to a local municipal responsibility issue.”

Summer emergency plans

If the parks department is unable to hire enough staff to open all operable pools, Derouen said the city will select which locations to open first based on three criteria: historical attendance; equal representation among city council districts; and geographical distribution.

“Historical attendance is our main driver, which is why we try to open the pools with the highest attendance,” Derouen said. “This is where it all starts for us, because it gives us the opportunity to reach as many people as possible.”

To measure attendance in a city where many swimming pools have been covered for several years, Derouen explained that the city uses figures from before the pandemic in its calculations.

But that may not be the best indicator for which pools actually need to be open to serve the community, Plummer said. The most important thing, she said, is to ensure the pools are open with fairness in mind.

“If I see for one moment that this is not a fair decision and it is not scattered throughout the city from this point of view, we will certainly discuss it with the administration and make the necessary changes,” Plummer said. “This will not happen again.”

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