$25,000 state grant will help Boulder Parks and Recreation Department recruit and retain lifeguards

Boulder Parks and Recreation department (BPR) applied for this Pools Special Incentive 2022 grant and was awarded $25,000 to support the department’s recruitment and retention of lifeguard staff.

The nationwide lifeguard shortage has led to BPR having about 70% of the employees needed to operate summer aquatics facilities and resulted in limited operations at North Boulder Recreation Center, East Boulder Community Center and the outdoor Scott Carpenter Pool. Due to this reduced number of staff, the department has only been able to operate one indoor pool weekdays from 6 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Spruce Pool not opening this summer.

BPR requested and received the full grant award of $25,000 and will use this funding to pilot programs to increase summer pool hours and inform future recruitment and retention programs. The pilot programs are:

• Stay Bonuses: Offer a $1/hour bonus to lifeguards who stay on through the week of Labor Day. The bonus will be added to the employees’ paycheck for that pay period in September and will be an extra dollar for every hour they work between July 1 and September 6.
• Work to Win: Hold a raffle incentive for lifeguards who work over 20 and 30 hours each week so we can add additional swim times at currently open indoor pools .
• The More the Merrier: Start a referral program and offer a $100 referral incentive to staff. Once the referred staff member has worked 50 hours for the city, we will award them and the person that referred them $100 each.

“These are ideas we have wanted to try and are excited to be able to thanks to this grant program,” said BPR Director Ali Rhodes. “Given where we are in the season, our priority is to increase swim times at our open aquatics facilities since expanding access at the indoor facilities creates more accessible swimming and is most feasible at this point in the summer.”

Grant program funds must be used specifically for swimming pool employees and related expenses. In addition to expanding operations, additional BPR lifeguards hired this summer will help address the typical turnover in seasonal staff throughout the summer and an attrition rate that accelerates starting this month.

At this point in the season, BPR is focused on open aquatics operations, as it is not feasible to stand up operations at the Spruce Pool amidst peak summer season due to the facility preparation and staff training that would be needed, nor is it cost effective at this point in the season. South Boulder Recreation Center will remain closed while we complete repairs in the pool area, and we look forward to resuming aquatics operations there later this summer.

Any community members interested in becoming a lifeguard can see open positions and apply at BPRjobs.org. We’re specifically looking for community members who are available to work as lifeguards between 5:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. to help during those difficult to fill timeslots.

BPR provides free lifeguard certification to employees and will pay for time spent in training for those hired before their training begins.