When will Raleigh pools open? With fewer lifeguards, city faces uncertain swim season
Days before Memorial Day weekend, Raleigh still doesn’t have enough lifeguards to know when its pools will open.
“Operations remain fluid as we hire staff every day, so we are not quite ready to announce how we will begin the season,” said Kenneth Hisler, assistant director of the Parks, Recreation and Cultural Resources Department. “We are striving to confirm as quickly as possible, so we can communicate to the public.”
The city has four, year-round public pools and four seasonal public pools that are normally open and staffed headed into Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start to summer.
But the city needs to hire about 75 more lifeguards to make sure those pools can open safely. If that doesn’t happen the pools will open on a rotation requiring lifeguards to work at multiple locations, Hisler said.
The lifeguard shortage is happening in other cities across the country, and Raleigh did raise its hourly pay from $9 to $13 to attract more candidates. But lifeguard duties are physically demanding and require a certification, which the city will cover.
“I have peers across the country that are all struggling with this,” Hisler said. “So we’re just talking to folks on a call where peers across the country are limiting what they can do pool-wise, because of the shortage (of lifeguards). I’m going to be no different.”
The city is also seeing shortages in other parks department areas including summer camps and the parks themselves.
Raleigh normally offers 1,300 summer camp slots each week but only offered an average of 1,000 slots this year to address staffing shortages and as a COVID-19 mitigation effort. Two summer camps were also canceled due to insufficient staffers.
“With a strong late push, we feel pretty good about our camp staffing,” Hisler said. “We are still hiring and hope to bring on another 10 staff before we begin camp on June 13.”
The city is also struggling to hire for Pullen and Chavis parks, which have amusement rides. It would like at least 20 or more additional employees for those positions.
Want to apply?
Teenagers, over the age of 16, or college students still looking for summer jobs should consider working for the city, Hisler said.
Raleigh Parks is holding a pizza party and open interviews from 6-8 p.m. Thursday, May 26, at the Pullen Park Amusements Shelters 2 and 3 at Pullen Park.
People who can’t attend can also visit raleighnc.gov/jobs to see all the city’s available jobs including those in the parks department.
Pay for seasonal parks jobs ranges from $11 to $15 an hour.
This story was originally published May 24, 2022 at 11:59 AM.
