Closing pool would be tremendous loss

The Marysville School District administration is strongly considering the closure of the Marysville-Pilchuck swimming pool. If this were to occur, it would create a huge loss to both the school district and the community.

Currently, this pool provides swim lessons to citizens of Marysville, Arlington and Lakewood. During the school year it also provides a fantastic opportunity for fourth graders, within the Marysville School District, to participate in the elementary swim program. The goal of this program is to drown-proof the district’s most valuable asset … its students. How many tragic drownings have been avoided by lessons learned in these two programs?

Every weekday, the pool operates from 5:30 a.m. until 10 p.m. Health benefits to area residents, from the lap swimmers to those who participate in the aquasize classes, would be eliminated. In addition, this pool supports five swim teams (Special Olympics, M-P boys and girls, middle school and the Marlins) that involve more than 260 kids during the school year.

The argument that closing the pool and directing P.E. students into other forms of P.E. at “no extra cost” is ludicrous. In fact, this pool has provided an outlet for the already overcrowded P.E. classes at M-P. When the weather conditions are such that outdoor activities are not possible and there is no space in the gym, students swim. Swimming is also a valuable unit of the freshman P.E. curriculum.

The arguments for closing the pool are weak. The operating expenses are just $225,000 a year, which are paid by your property taxes. This amounts to a very little expenditure per taxpayer. It would be a shame to teach our children to read and do math, only to lose them in an accident that might have been avoidable due to penny pinching and shortsightedness.

Scott Knowles

Marysville