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Q&A
Discussion on the capacity and expansion of the Swim for Life program
0:59:53
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87 sec
Council Member Menin presses for details on the resumption and capacity of the Swim for Life program. Commissioner Donoghue provides information on the program's current status and recent expansion.
- The program is set to resume in the fall at the beginning of the school year
- In FY 2024, the program served 6,629 second graders, an increase from 5,133 in FY 2023
- Council Member Menin expresses disappointment with the current capacity, stating it is insufficient
Julie Menin
0:59:53
But so when is it going to resume?
Sue Donoghue
0:59:56
So our swim for live programming will start is happening this fall.
0:59:59
It starts at the beginning of the school year.
Julie Menin
1:00:01
And at the same capacity that existed before,
Sue Donoghue
1:00:04
we hope to be able serve, as I said, in 2024, we were thrilled to be able to serve 6629 second graders.
1:00:12
We hope to be able to meet or exceed that this year.
1:00:15
So the the point and
Julie Menin
1:00:16
and why the council passed this bill was obviously to expand upon it.
1:00:20
So I mean, saying that we're gonna have do 6000 kids is simply completely and wholly insufficient.
1:00:27
I'm sorry I missed the beginning of the hearing, but we had another hearing at the same time.
1:00:31
I'm sure the chair has already done questions on this.
1:00:34
I apologize for, you know, overlapping on that.
1:00:37
But it's just you've got families who are here who lost a child because of drowning and then to see that the agency is not when we have a bill that requires the swim lessons is not doing it to the full capacity is unbelievably disappointing and upsetting.
1:00:54
So what's
Sue Donoghue
1:00:54
our council member, first of all, it wasn't expansion.
1:00:57
So from 2023 to 2024, We expanded by over a 1000 children.
1:01:03
In 2023, swim for a life served 5133 second graders.
1:01:10
In 2024, swim for life served 6629.
1:01:14
So it was an expansion of over a thousand second graders who were served through the program.