No Pool Time for 7th Grade Swimming Class
Use of the Piedmont Pool by the Piedmont Unified School District students for physical education and sports activities has been allowed since the pool was built. This past week, due to pool conflicts, the following announcement was sent to all Piedmont Middle School seventh graders and parents:
I’m sorry to inform you that our swimming unit planned for next week has been canceled. After a month of careful planning, I was notified today that the Piedmont Community Pool is unable to accommodate our physical education program this year. Please come to the locker room for our normal PE classes.
Mr. Lane, PE Instructor
The Recreation Department was unable to accommodate the seventh grade PMS PE (Physical Education) Swimming Unit this year. Pool costs are carefully monitored as the City attempts to reduce the burden of taking over the pool management from the Piedmont Swim Club, that had assumed all expenses of running and maintaining the pool. A concern expressed after the management change was that the School District might not be able to continue the long standing practice of periodic pool usage for District athletics and PE.
City Recreation Director Mark Delventhal offered an apology to the Middle School for informing the PE department at the last minute that they could not use the pool. He noted, “A PE swim unit in March [rather than May] is much more realistic for us.” He said “a much more robust swim program (masters/swim aerobics/tiny tot lessons) [had] use of the pool from essentially 8am to 3pm for a full week.”
Delventhal wrote to the Middle School, “No two organizations have had a better, more cooperative and supportive relationship over the years than has PRD [Piedmont Recreation Department] and PMS [Piedmont Middle School]. Please be assured we have no intention of allowing that to change. Period.”
For decades Piedmont Middle School has been the beneficiary of the Piedmont Recreation Department’s provision of after school sports programs. The School District has saved significant costs through this arrangement, yet the programs offered by the Recreation Department charge student athletes to participate. This is an atypical arrangement for a school district, but has allowed the programs to continue at no cost to the School District.
