Aurora adjusts pool schedule to deal with staffing challenges: "I love my job. The hours are a minus, but I love the job"
As pools across the state open, the city of Aurora is still dealing with some staffing shortages at its pools. On Sunday, just a day before Memorial Day, the city opened the Meadow Hills Swimming Pool.
They're currently adjusting and making things work with the staff the pool does have.
"We are on an alternating schedule right now to try to accommodate the lifeguards that we have," said Olivia Myers with the city of Aurora.
Across Aurora's 11 indoor and outdoor city pools, there are only about 220 lifeguards. They really need around 350 to feel comfortable, according to Myers.
"We are working towards it. We are operating our training classes and we are still onboarding a lot of new lifeguards," Myers said.
To help the staffing issue and to prevent cutting back pool hours like last year, the state distributed grants to about 40 pools to help with lifeguard training. The state is also paying $20,000 per pool to help with training.
The cost to train just one person can be pricey.
As Aurora works to recruit and train lifeguards, the city feels like eventually, it will get to where it needs to be for this summer.
This year, the state funding will be of great help by covering the costs of lifeguard certifications, so those interested applicants do not have to pay for it, according to Myers.
The city told CBS News Colorado, four to six weeks from Memorial Day weekend, it will have enough staff to open the pools seven days a week.
The city of Aurora has also increased pay for lifeguards this summer to $17.50 per hour. That is up $1.50 from last year's $16 per hour.
Jayden Martinez Pinegar, a manager for the city of Aurora Aquatics and a lifeguard, spends her summers by the pool. She checks on other lifeguards to make sure they are good and have enough sunscreen. She also checks the pool to make sure it is healthy and regularly does maintenance.
It was her day off on Sunday, but she was asked to come to work.
"I'll come in if they ask me to come in and they needed some coverage today. So, I said 'Yeah, I can come in,'" Martinez-Pinegar said.
But this isn't something out of the ordinary, it is typical for her and her colleagues.
"Some days I'll work 5:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. We can only work 12 hours in a day and so, it just depends on the pool and what shift I'm on," Martinez-Pinegar said.
This has been the case for a couple years now.
"If we had some more lifeguards then I wouldn't have to cover like I did today, we would have someone to cover for me or not cover, but work," Martinez-Pinegar added.
She's not complaining, but it can understandably get exhausting.
"I love my job. The hours are a minus, but I love the job," Martinez-Pinegar said.
She loves being a lifeguard, but is hoping the more people apply, the better it would be for their staff.
Del Mar Park, Park Lane and Pheasant Run are open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
Meadow Hills, Aqua Vista, and Village Green will be open Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays.
