HUNTINGTON BEACH : School Panel Backs Swim Pool Closure

A panel of Huntington Beach Union High School District administrators this week recommended that the school board close a high school swimming pool, hike bus fees and cut some walk-on coaches to help bridge the district’s budget deficit.

The Board of Trustees on March 10 approved a $200,000 block of cuts in after-school programs as part of its $3.1-million budget reduction package. The 10-member committee’s recommendations are specific proposals on where those cuts should be made.

The most controversial of the proposed cuts is a revived plan to close the Huntington Beach High School swimming pool in June. Trustees narrowly averted shutting the pool in last year’s round of budget cuts, but the proposal has resurfaced this year.

District officials say the pool has an antiquated heating system, which is costly to operate and which the district cannot afford to replace. By closing the pool, officials say, the district would save $71,000 annually in operating costs.

The school’s swimming programs would remain, but training and meets would be held at other sites.

Officials from Huntington Beach High and supporters of the swimming programs complained that the school is being singled out in the proposed cuts, and that the projected savings are exaggerated.

The proposal to close the pool “certainly was the most difficult for the committee,” said John Myers, the district’s superintendent for instruction, who coordinated the panel’s meetings. “Much of the (committee’s) discussion centered upon this issue.”

The pool closure was the only aspect of the panel’s recommendations on which members did not agree unanimously. Three members voted against closing the pool.

The school board will hold a public hearing on April 7 before voting on the panel’s suggested cuts, which is expected to draw an outpouring of protest. Kathy Bates, a parent of a former aquatics student, initiated the public opposition at Tuesday night’s meeting.

“True, the pool has been in horrendous shape,” Bates said. “And, true, you can still have a swimming program without a pool. But it is extremely difficult to have a successful and competitive program without a pool.”

The panel is also calling for five or six non-employee stipends to be cut from each of the district’s six high schools.