RALEIGH, N.C. — Members of the North Carolina State Board of Education are expected to discuss possible changes that could affect the start and end dates of the traditional school year calendar.
They will be reviewing the differences between the first and last days of classes already submitted by school districts across the state.
Their decision would impact not only students and their families going forward, but employers looking for seasonal help over the summer.
Aaron Weaver, who is in charge of hiring lifeguards for the City of Raleigh, believes changing school openings and closings directly impacts businesses during this period of the year.
“It’s like a marathon with a sprint at the end,” Weaver said Tuesday from the Pullen Aquatic Center.
Weaver said his metaphorical race is about the push to hire fresh bodies to put in lifeguard stands in Raleigh. He said applications from high schoolers to become lifeguards picked up in April.
“We have hit the point in time, maybe Memorial Day is when it happens, when young people say, ‘oh … I need a job. Let me see if I can find that,’” Weaver said.
Nearly a year ago, Zion Hall was one of those hires who was eager to protect and serve families in Raleigh.
How soon natural swimmers like Hall can jump out of the water and into the lifeguard stand in the future may depend on upcoming State Board of Education meetings.
“Moving it later would be a little bit more difficult, because the longer my high school-aged individuals are in school the less opportunity I have to put people in the lifeguard stands during the day,” Weaver said.
The North Carolina State Superintendent of Public Instruction Cathy Truitt and other leaders will talk about allowing variations from school district to school district around the state. It is a topic Weaver, 48, keeps a close eye on all year long.
“Because that end of the school year, end of Wake County public schools for us impacts when we open up to the public. It would cause us to basically take a timetable shift,” Weaver said.
Revenues and family plans are among some of these things on the line.
Weaver said hours are limited at the four seasonal locations to even and odd days during the week with staggered opening times from 4-7 p.m. until the academic calendar is over.
“We get our high school students back, and that’s a pivotal day for us. Because that’s when we can transition from just afternoons at our seasonal pools to our all-day operations,” Weaver said.
Amanda Nouhan is the director of marketing and business development for Tree Runner Adventure Parks. Nouhan said the company has three locations in Michigan and has expanded its brand into North Carolina.
Nouhan estimated roughly 40% of their new hires this time of year are people in high school or recently graduated from high school.
“We double in staff during this time of year,” Nouhan said. “We watch the school year very closely. It’s our peak season. We switch to our summer hours on June 9.”
“We prefer slow and steady wins the race,” Weaver said.
As the aquatic program director, Weaver said June, July and August are sacred because you can’t cool off at their pools if someone isn’t watching.
“The sooner we can get those high school-aged individuals into the training, and into the lifeguard stands, the better it helps us in terms of opening up the swimming facilities sooner to the citizens of Raleigh,” Weaver said.
Weaver estimated 85% of new hires will be high school-age people at this point in the year.
One of the positives Weaver pointed out for potential lifeguard candidates is that the city will waive a person’s $250 training fee in exchange for prospective employees’ agreeing to work at least 155 hours in the summer. The aquatic program director said at least 50-60 hires have been made since February. In the coming weeks, he said they would like to add another 30-40 lifeguards to safely open at full capacity.
“At least putting the planning process into place and knowing when that date is going to be. It’s an ongoing process. There is no end,” Weaver said.