Lifeguard shortage forces these Kansas City area pools and beaches to close this year
Last year, most Kansas City area pools closed because of the pandemic. This year, several pools and beaches can’t open for a different reason: a lifeguard shortage.
Jackson County Parks + Rec couldn’t hire enough lifeguards this summer to staff both Blue Springs Beach and Longview Lake Beach. As a result, only Longview is open.
Overland Park did not open the Bluejacket and Marty pools for the same reason.
“Overall the effect is that pools are closed. Beaches are closed,” said Tina Spallo, Jackson County’s superintendent of recreation. “Therefore the general public doesn’t have as many aquatic centers to choose from.”
One reason is that the pandemic shut down lifeguard training courses, so too few people could earn the required American Red Cross Lifeguard Certification.
“The park being closed last year hurt recruitment, and COVID safety measures prevented in-school recruiting for this season,” said Meg Lewis, spokeswoman for the city of Independence. This summer, the city’s Adventure Oasis Water Park has been forced to close some features but not the entire park. It has also had to pull staff from other facilities to keep the park open.
Kansas City Parks and Recreation has similarly struggled to hire lifeguards and offers a hiring and recruiting bonus, but said it hasn’t had to close any pools this year because of worker shortages. But pools have closed for other reasons this summer:
Three junior pools — Ashland Square, Arbor Villa Park and Jarboe Park — are closed because they don’t have the proper filtration systems amid COVID-19. Grove Pool closed because it was vandalized in May. Others, including Brush Creek Community Center Pool and Swope Park Pool closed because they need repairs.
Kansas City, Kansas, decided to close its only pool, Parkwood Pool, for the season in April when vaccine distribution remained slow and the pandemic caused more concern. The city also struggled to recruit lifeguards and received only one applicant for its lifeguard work study program, officials previously told The Star.
Elsewhere in Wyandotte County, the Bonner Springs Aquatic Park only recently hired enough lifeguards to open its slides and rock wall, according to manager Claire Gurlie.
Lifeguards mostly consist of students in high school and college and full-time workers with seasonal availability.
Rhett Krewson, a junior at Blue Valley Southwest High School, has worked as a lifeguard at private Overland Park neighborhood pools for the past two years. Last summer he worked 50 to 70 hours per week. This summer he has averaged 14 hours a week lifeguarding because he’d rather do other work.
“The pay is just not there,” he said. “Sadly with everyone dropping, the hours are not as flexible, so people can’t get shifts covered so people are leaving because of that. So you just have this loop of people leaving.”
In May, teenage unemployment fell to 9.6%, the lowest since November 1953. Rhett has witnessed his friends quit lifeguarding for better paying opportunities like teaching swim lessons and pursuing entrepreneurship. He started his own auto detailing business last year.
“This is a job I actually have a passion for and actually care about. It’s outside; I can do my own hours,” he said. “With lifeguarding you sit in a chair and it’s just not the same thing.”