Minnesota Bill Proposes that the DOE Employs a Swimming and Water Safety Specialist

• Section 1. SWIMMING AND WATER SAFETY SPECIALIST. The Department of Education must employ a swimming and water safety specialist to develop a model kindergarten through grade 12 swimming and water safety curriculum and implementation guidelines, and develop and provide professional development materials and opportunities for teachers and schools to identify the district resources needed to implement the model curriculum and guidelines. The swimming and water safety specialist must seek advice from interested stakeholders when developing the curriculum, guidelines, and professional development materials.
• Section 2. APPROPRIATION; SWIMMING AND WATER SAFETY SPECIALIST. $……. in fiscal year 2017 is appropriated from the general fund to the commissioner of education for employing a swimming and water safety specialist to develop a model kindergarten through grade 12 swimming and water safety curriculum and other related materials.

A water safety specialist (at the state, county, city, or school district level) could have a huge impact on reducing drowning rates and increasing physical activity levels in Minnesota. Dedicating an employee to identify district resources needed to implement swim safety curriculum could result in public-private partnerships and/or the development of new pool facilities, thus increasing kids access to pools and reducing inequity. Minorities historically lack access to swimming facilities, thus are burdened by increased risk for drowning and miss out on the health benefits-reduced risk for obesity, diabetes, and heart disease-of numerous life-enriching water activities.

Broward County, Florida took on a similar task back in 1999 with the development of SWIM Central to identify local resources; develop water safety curriculum for young students; provide all water-related information on one website; and establish public-private partnerships with local pool facilities to walk or bus kids to pools for free water safety classes. The program has had a tremendous impact on drowning prevention and physical activity over the past 15 years and continues to grow.

Not only does swimming positively impact kids health, but swimming is linked to improved cognitive development and increased academic performance. Additionally, pool facilities could benefit economically from additional programming during non-peak hours.

The bills were sent to respective education committees, thus will not be addressed until the 2017 legislative session.

Read the proposed bill here.

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