Zay Tucker is a lifeguard at the Emmett Reed Community Pool in Brentwood. He stopped for a photo minutes before the pool opened for the summer in July 2023. Tucker has served as a lifeguard for five years. "I know a lot of people. I like seeing people I know and friends that live over here. It's cool," Tucker said. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Published on February 27, 2024 at 11:01 am
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Jacksonville’s Parks and Recreation Department is preparing for summer despite current temperatures in the 70s.
During Monday’s joint meeting of the City Council and Duval County School board, Parks and Recreation Director Daryl Joseph said his department has increased its recruitment of lifeguards.
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Last summer, more than a dozen public pools were not opened until July because of staffing issues.
Joseph said he met with more than a dozen students on Feb. 24 — from portions of Jacksonville where the department lacked coverage last year — and they expressed interest in becoming lifeguards.
“I guarantee I won’t take a lickin’ this year,” Joseph said. “We are gearing up. We started in October. We started with the recruiting. A lot of schools had job fairs; we were at those. … We are going to be everywhere we feel students are. We are going to be everywhere adults are.”
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The city of Jacksonville is raising lifeguard pay to $15 an hour, simplifying its information flier and working with Duval County Public Schools to send lifeguard information to student email addresses.
Council member Ken Amaro said it was an embarrassment to the city that pools were not opened until high summer. He said expectations will be high this summer and the community should not be disappointed again.
Jacksonville has 34 municipal swimming pools, with more than a third on the campus of local schools.
“These schools are in our neighborhoods and so become an extension of our neighborhoods. And, if they have a pool, you can be sure that the kids in that neighborhood are going to want to use it during the summer.”
The Parks and Recreation Department will hold its next full course training session the week of March 11 at Cecil Aquatic Center. It also will host a re-certification course on March 16 at Charles Clark Park and Pool.
For more information about becoming a lifeguard, contact the Parks and Recreation Department at bealifeguard@coj.net.
Lead image: Zay Tucker is a lifeguard at the Emmett Reed Community Pool in Brentwood. He stopped for a photo minutes before the pool opened for the summer in July 2023. Tucker has served as a lifeguard for five years. “I know a lot of people. I like seeing people I know and friends that live over here. It’s cool,” Tucker said. | Will Brown, Jacksonville Today
Clarification: The scope of the pay increase for lifeguards has been corrected. It will be $15 this summer.
