LPublic Use of KPBSD Pool Facilities 2018-5-7

Background Information:

Questions have been raised concerning increased public access to the KPBSD swimming pools and the feasibility of involving a third party in pool operation. The attached document compares the operation of the KPBSD swimming pools to the operations of other state school districts and responds to questions of increased public use of the facilities.

Public Use of KPBSD Pool Facilities

Public Pool Use Limitations

Current public use of KPBSD pool facilities are primarily limited by two conditions; balancing demand with staffing costs, and maintaining security of the school facility. In three pool locations; Homer, Ninilchik, and Seldovia, building configurations allow the pool area with accompanying lockers and showers to have direct access and be secured independently from the school. In those locations, the hours have been established to meet demand. If there were a greater demand, staffing would be increased to accommodate additional public accessibility.

All three of these schools currently have public programs that operate during the school day.

The other four locations; Skyview MS, Soldotna HS, Kenai Central HS, and Seward HS have limited use of the pool facility during school hours or take special precautions as the pool area cannot currently be isolated from the school.

Skyview MS, Soldotna HS and Kenai Central HS could be secured if an alarm were installed on a required exit door from the pool area which would activate when the door was opened. This would alert pool and school staff if unauthorized individuals entered the school facility from the pool area. Soldotna HS and Kenai Central HS pools are currently open to public use before and after the school day. Skyview MS is the exception as it has public swim times throughout the day.

There is no easy way to isolate the pool at Seward HS. Circulation to the pool lockers and shower areas is shared with students using the building. In addition, multiple required exits from the pool area exit into corridors of the school. To circumvent this problem and maintain security, Seward HS requires that patrons participating in lap and parent/tot swim taking place during the school day, sign in and out at the school office.

Public Use of Pools

Published hours of times each pool is open to the public is somewhat misleading as there are numerous groups that use the facilities on a semi-regular basis. As an example, Skyview pool schedule shows the pool used by non-school groups for 29 hours per week. However, the Community Schools program currently uses the pool seven hours per week during non-scheduled time for a total public use time of 36 hours per week.

Past attempts to open the pools on weekends have not shown to be popular, and were discontinued. The only weekend use currently is Seward, with a lap swim scheduled Sunday evening.

Public Use Revenue

Currently, fees generated through public use fund all of the lifeguard staff, pay for all pool chemicals, and fund all miscellaneous equipment needed for the pools. The general fund covers the costs of utilities, pool management, pool custodians and any major maintenance repairs.

Each pool facility keeps public use funds separate, with balances ranging from approximately $2,000 to $80,000.

It should be noted that North Peninsula Rec Center Pool is funded through a service area via property taxes and does not depend on use fees as part of their operating revenue. Patrons living within the service area are allowed to use the pool at no cost. Current average daily use is approximately 173 patrons per day.

Pool Ownership

KPBSD school facilities are owned by the Kenai Peninsula Borough. As the actual owners, the Borough Assembly may desire to take the lead role in determining the conditions surrounding the use of pools by third party organizations.

The attached matrix compares the pool ownership and operations between Kenai Peninsula Borough School District and the other four larger districts in the state.