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In the first action announced since the drowning of 15-year-old freshman Benjamin Curry in the San Ramon Valley High School pool last spring, school district officials have hired lifeguards to work at school pools to enhance safety when students are in the pools, a program that began with the start of school Monday.
The San Ramon Valley Unified School District investigation into the fatal incident — which law enforcement deemed accidental — has concluded, and though full details have not been released, one key outcome is the district posting lifeguards at each pool at the four comprehensive high schools to watch students during school-sponsored activities.
For now, that will need to occur only during school teams’ water polo activities because the district has halted physical education lessons in high school pools for at least the fall semester while officials continue to review the district’s pool policy, according to SRVUSD spokeswoman Elizabeth Graswich.
“Following the tragic death of a student in the San Ramon Valley High School pool last spring, our District has evaluated the safety protocols for use of the pools at each high school,” Graswich said in a statement Tuesday.
“As part of this process, beginning (Monday), on the first day of school, we now have lifeguards staffed at each of our pools whenever they are in use. This includes four hours a day for water polo practice through the entire season. The safety of our students continues to be our top priority,” she added.
Curry’s family is supportive of the new lifeguard safety measure but is still working to find out what exactly led to Benjamin drowning undetected during his physical education class nearly three months ago, according to attorney Andy Schwartz, who represents the Curry family.
“They are glad that they are implementing safety procedures. Anything to make the pools more safe is something that my clients will feel good about,” Schwartz told DanvilleSanRamon.com on Tuesday. “We are continuing to investigate what occurred … We are investigating the facts surrounding the incident.”
The lifeguard program is catching up with the district’s policy of requiring residents who rent out school pools to have a lifeguard on duty at all times, which has been in effect since 2016. Individuals or groups who rent the use of a pool on school grounds must provide their own lifeguard who is registered through the American Red Cross, YMCA or an equivalent lifeguard training program.
Lifeguards must also be certified in standard first aid and CPR. The district will follow these qualifications in hiring its lifeguards and ensuring that they are professionally certificated, Graswich said.
For the fall semester, the district will post three certified lifeguards at each pool. The idea is to guarantee at least two sets of eyes on the pool any time it’s in use, according to Graswich. Current projections indicate the lifeguard program will cost about $125,000 for the fall semester.
Curry drowned during his fourth-period swim class on May 8 which, while taught by a PE teacher did not officially have a lifeguard on duty during that time, and he was not discovered in the pool until the fifth-period pool class began, according to investigators.
In July, the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office opted not to file criminal charges, after Danville police found no signs of foul play nor criminal negligence with regards to Curry’s death, confirming previous findings made by the county coroner’s office in early June.
Also in July, police confirmed that Curry did know how to swim but they were unsure of how to answer when asked about his skill level.
Graswich said Tuesday that she could not comment on any potential disciplinary actions for SRVHS staff as a result of the drowning, citing employee confidentiality.
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15-year-old Benjamin Curry drowned during his fourth-period swim class last spring. (photo courtesy Community Presbyterian Church) -
All San Ramon Valley Unified School District pools will now be required to have a lifeguard on duty while the pool is in use, including the San Ramon Valley High pool shown here last week before school started. (Photo by Ryan J. Degan)
Is being able to swim no longer a requirement for high school graduation in Ca?
If it was, it was limited to a few school districts. Certainly wasn’t (and isn’t) in San Mateo county.
What does knowing how to swim have to do with drowning? It is not an absolute guarantee of safety.
This below link to the story has some good accurate comments to help fill in the details
https://danvillesanramon.com/news/2018/08/14/after-student-drowning-srvusd-to-post-lifeguards-at-all-school-pools-while-in-use
SRVUSD who decided to allow PE classes to have 57 kids?
Even on dry land that is crazy how does anyone keep track of 57 kids. But if you are just worried about money makes perfect sense. California board of education recommends 40 kids in PE max but if you allow 60 you only need 2 teachers instead of 3 to deal with 120 students.
Below is the latest article on the drowning.
https://www.kron4.com/news/bay-area/claim-filed-against-san-ramon-valley-schools-after-accidental-drowning-of-student/1501827945
Aaron Becker should be fired even with 57 kids all that he had to see was the one he left on the bottom of the pool.
Shouldn’t it be required by the physical education teachers to know if their students know how to swim or not ? Or at why levels their abilities of swimming are ? This was and is a needless tragedy!
The student drowned because Aaron Becker was not paying attention during the treading water drill at the end of class. Ben Curry was drowning as Aaron Becker walked away from the pool to grab lunch.
Here is link to a petition to get Aaron Becker fired.
https://www.change.org/p/san-ramon-valley-high-school-justice-for-ben-curry?recruiter=363256900&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=sms&utm_campaign=share_petition&utm_term=f3ccf2289628426495410cbb7cedf92f
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