San Benito High School senior Hayleigh Smith has been swimming for years and she’s caught the eye of top four-year universities for her special skills.
Schools such as New York University, the University of Southern California, San Diego State University and the University of California, Santa Barbara are considering her for their teams. But the lean blond worries that the lack of a pool for swimming practice at San Benito High School may put her out of the competition.
“My future is very important in swimming because without it, the schools I listed wouldn’t even look at me,” she told trustees at the district’s regularly scheduled meeting Wednesday evening.
At least two-dozen people in the audience as speakers, such as Smith, voiced concerns during public comment about the lack of a pool. The commentary came after Henrik Malinowski, a senior project manager for Aedis Architects, gave an update about construction projects.
Principal Todd Dearden, who joined the district last year, explained that the pool installed at his prior school in Sonora had a full water polo area and 12 swimming lanes, and cost about $8 million.
“Eight million?” said Trustee Evelyn Muro, as she made a face.
The Hollister pool was closed until further notice after the school was issued a “cease and desist notice” by the city and the county water board, according to the minutes from a regularly scheduled June 3 meeting. There were also plaster issues and problems with discharging chlorinated water into the storm drain, a practice that is no longer legal, according to the same document.
Malinowski mentioned he would meet with district staff officials early next week to discuss options for the pool. Superintendent John Perales asked if the company could present several options at the regularly scheduled meeting Aug. 4.
Perales sympathized with public speakers, expressed backing for a joint venture project to potentially create a pool with city, county and private agency support; and called it a “public safety issue.” But Perales also reminded meeting attendees that the public had pushed back against using Measure G—the $42.5 million general obligation facilities bond narrowly approved by voters in June 2014—to include work on outdated athletics facilities.
“Measure G barely passed—and in the papers, on social media and wherever it could be noted—people did not want these monies to be used for athletic purposes and now we are seeing the repercussions of those things,” he said.
Parents, students and even a seventh grade swimmer emphasized the importance of the pool, asked the district to support a joint project and expressed concerns about busing children long distances to pools outside the area in the coming school year.
One speaker, John Corrigan, mentioned he and the superintendent would be meeting with representatives of Myrtha Pools next week to discuss an alternative to the school’s concrete pool that might need less ongoing maintenance. Board President Ray Rodriguez praised speakers for not just presenting concerns, but possible solutions.
While several people have told Rodriguez that Measure G money might be a funding source for pool facility fixes or replacement, he referenced that the largest outcry against the bond was a concern that it would go toward a “Taj Mahal of athletics,” he said quoting an editorial in a local newspaper.
At the meeting, Perales said the closing of the pool was “a decision that was brought upon us” and called it “absolutely devastating.”
Referencing a swimmer—who noted that at least nine people drown each day in the nation during public comment—the superintendent added to these concerns.
“The research I looked at recently said it’s usually poor children who drown or who are part of those statistics,” he said, adding that many of these youth don’t have access to a pool and never learn the “life skill.”
