SR 06-13-2023 16F
City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: June 13, 2023
Agenda Item: 16.F
1 of 1
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Denise Anderson Warren, City Clerk, Records and Election Services
Department
Subject: Request of Councilmembers Brock & de la Torre that the City Council direct
the City Manager to develop an estimate of resources needed to provide
financial assistance to eligible families and/or partner with community non -
profits to provide free and/or reduced-cost swim lessons at Santa Monica
Aquatics facilities to ensure that elementary school-age children have access
to learn how to swim.
Prepared By: Denise Anderson Warren, City Clerk
Approved
Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Swim Lessons_06132023
B. Written Comments
16.F
Packet Pg. 772
16 Item Swim Lessons
Request of Councilmembers Brock & de la Torre that the City Council direct the City
Manager to develop an estimate of resources needed to provide financial assistance to
eligible families and/or partner with community non-profits to provide free and/or
reduced-cost swim lessons at Santa Monica Aquatics facilities to ensure that
elementary school-age children have access to learn how to swim.
Background
All children who reside in Santa Monica should have basic swim skills by the time
they exit 5th grade. It is a societal imperative that is especially important for diverse
children who face many barriers to becoming acclimated to the water. In our coastal
community with direct proximity to the Pacific Ocean, the availabili ty of backyard
pools in some areas of our community means that a child can lose their life because
they lack a skill that should be common to all Santa Monica children.
It is imperative that all traces of America’s racist past be erased in our time, and one
of those areas is the ability and right to be able to swim. In the recent past, swimming
was an integral part of physical education classes at Santa Monica middle schools.
The ability to pay for swim instruction should not be a barrier to becoming a
proficient swimmer.
16.F.a
Packet Pg. 773 Attachment: Swim Lessons_06132023 (5819 : Swim lessons)
From:zinajosephs@aol.com
To:councilmtgitems; Caroline Torosis; Christine Parra; Gleam Davis; Jesse Zwick; Lana Negrete; Oscar de la Torre;
Phil Brock
Cc:zinajosephs@aol.com
Subject:City Council 6/13 agenda item 16-F: SUPPORT
Date:Friday, June 9, 2023 5:20:36 PM
EXTERNAL
Dear Mayor Davis and City Council members,
I support this agenda item to find a way to make swim lessons available to elementary school children
whose families may not be able to to afford the fees. Living so close to the ocean, this is not merely a
matter of recreation but of safety.
When I was teaching elementary school in downtown Los Angeles, one of my students, Gregory Gilliard,
was finally able to afford to attend a church-related summer camp for the first time after completing 5th
grade, but he drowned in the camp swimming pool. No one even realized what had happened until the
end of the afternoon, when the pool was cleared and his body was spotted, lying at the bottom.
Thank you for your consideration.
Zina
16F.Request of Councilmembers Brock & de la Torre that the City Council direct the City
Manager to develop an estimate of resources needed to provide financial assistance to
eligible families and/or partner with community non-profits to provide free and/or
reduced-cost swim lessons at Santa Monica Aquatics facilities to ensure that
elementary school-age children have access to learn how to
swim.New Item Received. 6/09/2023
Staff Report Printout
a.Swim Lessons_06132023
16.F.b
Packet Pg. 774 Attachment: Written Comments (5819 : Swim lessons)