By: Luke Ren
A student from San Mateo Valley drowned on May 8, 2018 in the school’s swimming pool during the PE course, according to an article from The Mercury News. The response from the principal was to suspend all swimming physical education classes from being taught at San Mateo Valley’s swimming pool, the article added.
In the same light, a student nearly drowned in the MHS swimming pool during the PE swimming course on October 12, 2007, according to an article from the 2007 edition of The Union. After multiple attempts to bring the student out of the water, the student was successfully rescued from the bottom of the pool, the article added.
MHS, in response to the incident, does not offer aquatics as a physical education course, Principal Francis Rojas said. The administration was aware that aquatics was a requirement by the California Department of Education (CDE) and decided that it was not a priority, Rojas added.
The majority of the CDE physical education requirements were being met, which should be sufficient, Rojas said. The accreditation team, Western Association of Schools and Colleges, came last year, looked at the curriculum, and determined that it was fine, Rojas added.
“We also have to understand that when you look at education code, there’s actually no police. There are random audits,” Rojas said. “The reality of it is not every school has these [required courses].”
High school physical education courses must include aquatics as an area of instruction, as well as seven other content areas, according to the CDE website. Not every requirement needs to be met in one year, but each course must be touched on in every student’s high school career, the CDE website added.
“The course of study must include the eight required content areas and substantially meet the objectives and criteria of [the education code],” according to the CDE website. “While it is not required that every class for which PE course credit is given includes all eight areas, each [high school] is required to structure its course offerings such that all areas are included over the course of study offered to all students.”
MHS does not offer aquatics, gymnastics, or combatives, which are three of the requirements listed on the CDE website, PE Department Head Corinne Osborne said. The main reason that these courses are not offered is there are not enough PE facilities, and there is a safety concern when teaching swimming, Osborne added.
“It’s really the lack of facilities that’s holding us back,” Osborne said. “The class size is [also] a big problem because the students outnumber us 45 to one.”
Although the pool is not built for teaching swimming in a PE class, the safety concern is not the main issue when introducing aquatics, Rojas said. The more important concern is the lack of experienced teachers, Rojas said.
“P.E. class sizes normally sit around 45 statewide, that’s how we build them,” Rojas said. “I think the biggest restriction is the experience of the staff. If I have a group of P.E. teachers that doesn’t have experience in aquatics, I wouldn’t particularly want them to teach aquatics.”
The CDE mandates that schools offer aquatics even in the absence of a pool because swimming principles can still be taught, according to the CDE website. Teachers must also be certified with adequate qualification in order to teach aquatics, the CDE website added.
“If the school site does not have a pool or access to a pool, aquatics can still be taught,” according to the CDE website. “Instruction can be provided on water safety rescue techniques, dry-land strokes, kick practice, and buoyancy principles.”
The biggest issue in teaching all of the required courses is still the lack of facilities and qualified teachers, Athletics Director Jeffrey Lamb said. Other schools share the same problem and, likewise, are not meeting all of the requirements, Lamb added.
“We really do not have gymnastics,” Lamb said. “Most high schools don’t have gymnastics anymore per say because [the] equipment is very expensive [and] we don’t have qualified people to teach them.”
Piedmont Hills High School (PHHS) is a high school that also does not follow all of the requirements, PHHS Junior Victor Xie said. PHHS teaches all of the required courses except gymnastics and dance, Xie added. These courses were taught at the local middle school, Xie said.
“Piedmont Hills requires swimming,” Xie said. “I’ve never heard of anyone doing gymnastics, only stretching.”
The other big issue is the conservative approach to physical education, Rojas said. There has been no strive to teach aquatics because the issue was never brought up, Rojas added.
“Our P.E. department does what it’s been doing. I haven’t put any priority in reviewing that,” Rojas said. “We can definitely have that discussion. I just don’t think it’s been discussed.”
American Red Cross (ARC) believes that safety and certification should be taken seriously, according to the ARC website. ARC wants to ensure that instructors are prepared for any water emergency, the website added.
“Many jobs require up to date lifesaving skills because they address health emergencies every day – people such as health care providers, first responders, and lifeguards,” according to the ARC website. “Others, including teachers and babysitters, are entrusted with precious young lives that could require aid on a moment’s notice.”
The Mercury News article mentioned can be found at the following link: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/11/02/danville-school-district-apologizes-for-drowning-death-of-ben-curry-announces-safety-changes/
The Union article mentioned was titled “Freshman nearly drowns in pool” and was published in the November 2007 edition of the Union.
The CDE guidelines for high school physical education can be found at: https://www.cde.ca.gov/pd/ca/pe/physeducfaqs.asp
American Red Cross provides certification for lifeguard and water safety training. To become certified or find out more information, visit their website: https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/lifeguarding