Junior lifeguard program could grow

Record numbers applied this year for the Newport Beach course, but about 300 kids who passed the swim test didn’t get in.After turning more than 300 kids away from an overbooked junior lifeguard program this summer, Newport Beach lifeguard officials on Tuesday told the City Council they want to increase the program’s capacity by about 800 by offering two sessions in 2006.

The junior lifeguard program teaches ocean and water safety and first aid to children between 9 and 15.

The program is supposed to be capped at 1,200 participants, which in the past included about 200 slots for kids who don’t live in Newport Beach. When record numbers applied this year, the 1,207 Newport kids who met the requirements got in. But more than 300 kids who passed the swimming test -- many from Costa Mesa -- didn’t.

“It created something of a furor in the community [because] of the people outside of Newport Beach being locked out,” Newport Beach Fire Chief Tim Riley said.

He attributes the loss of spaces for nonresidents to growing participation from Santa Ana Heights and Newport Coast residents.

Now Riley and Reenie Boyer, who lead the junior lifeguard program, are proposing two four-week sessions that each could accommodate 1,000 kids. In the past, it has been an eight-week program meeting Monday through Thursday, but the first week was mainly for testing and putting children into groups, and the last week was only two days.

Boyer said the change from eight weeks to four will really mean reducing the amount of instruction from 24 days to 17 days if some Friday sessions are added.

The program will cover the same safety topics but will need to be retooled for the shorter schedule.

“To think that we’re going to take eight weeks, put it into four weeks and keep everything the same, I don’t think is realistic,” Riley said.

Riley and Boyer also proposed a 20% increase in the registration fee for nonresidents and only allowing three tries to pass the swim test, instead of the current seven attempts.

The City Council must agree to the registration fee, which is suggested at $425 per child.

The program started in 1984 with just 50 kids, and is expected to surpass the more than 1,200 kids who participated this summer. Boyer said the change to two sessions will address that.

“This concept isn’t only to accommodate nonresidents; it’s to accommodate Newport residents first,” she said.

City Councilman Tod Ridgeway said he liked the two-session plan, but he suggested allowing at least four tries to pass the swim test to avoid excluding kids who train in the middle of winter for the February test.

“I think to limit it to three times is really unfair to the kids who are working hard in the wintertime,” he said.

The council must later approve a new budget for the junior lifeguard program and the adjusted registration fees. Information about the retooled program will be available in January.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers government and politics. She may be reached at (714) 966-4626 or by e-mail at alicia.robinson@latimes.com.

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