The American Red Cross imposed a price increase across the board on all of their programs ranging from babysitting classes to swim lessons. This price increase was implemented nationwide in July 2011, but places such as the municipalities of Tampa Bay cannot afford the increase.
“We need to recoup from the loss incurred because of the economy,” said Jose Bueno, the liaison from the Red Cross who serves Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties.
Places such as the City of St. Petersburg are in an uproar over this. One of the most important things they looked at was the swimming lessons. The city teaches the most swimming lessons in the area, and it was a large concern.
Swimming instructors are required to complete a course record for every class they teach. The record contains the students’ information and the number of kids in each class. This form is then given to the Red Cross and a record is kept of all the registered participants. In years past, the Red Cross offered swimming instruction for free. Now, there is a $5 charge for every participant.
They do not receive anything from the course record documents. There used to be a grant the numbers went to, but not anymore. However, they are searching.
“This summer we taught 4,733,” said Anita Westmoreland, the recreation supervisor in the Parks and Recreation Department. “With the fee, that is $23,665 we have to pay. There is no budget for it.”
The Red Cross claims that the extra money they receive for these courses will go into the research that is done in order to update their programs. They believe that since the learning materials for all of the courses offered are free to download online, it is a good exchange.
The fiscal year for Pinellas and Hillsborough counties began on October 1, so when the new updates rolled out this summer, everyone was already in the middle of the fiscal year. Most of the cities did not have a budget for their swimming lesson programs set aside. Even budgets for 2012 were already been set up before the rollouts; no one was prepared for what happened.
“In reality, $5 is not a lot,” Bueno said.
The Red Cross is willing to try to negotiate with the individual municipalities with the eventual goal being that they will pay the full $5. They did agree, however, to forgo the fee for the 2011 fiscal year.
“We would never exclude anyone because of not being able to afford (the prices),” Bueno said.
“It is not fair on our part because the budget for this year and the following are already set,” said Keith Tickner, an aquatics supervisor from Seminole.
Suzanne Greenfield is an aquatics supervisor from St. Pete Beach. She is a big advocate of the Red Cross, but believes they went about all of this the wrong way, and that it should have been more gradual.
With the negotiations, many of the municipalities are thinking similar thoughts.
“A stepping scale with moderate increases towards the new prices through the next two years,” said Amy Ashlock, an aquatics supervisor from Pinellas Park.
The municipalities are looking into other options. They do not want to have to increase the prices of their swim lessons in order to accomplish what the Red Cross is looking for. They hope to set up their own version of swimming lessons and not have to be a part of any organization.
“Linda, another supervisor, is looking into the state requirements about swim lessons,” Westmoreland said.
In Broward County, Swim Central teaches about 30,000 swimmers a year. They are not part of any type of organization for their swimming lessons, but their instructors are trained.
“We have to do what is cost effective,” Tickner said.
“We want to make sure the (swim lesson) program is available in another 10-20 years,” Bueno said.
This story was originally written for the USF St. Petersburg Neighborhood News Bureau. To read more of the Bureau’s stories, please visit http://www.nnbnews.com/.
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