Saskatoon’s summer paddling pool schedule is not as robust as intended after short staffing has forced the occasional closure of pools around the city.
“On a day-to-day and week-to-week basis, we do have to make changes and do have to make choices of which sites we do close, and we do try and balance that across the season and across the sites so that we are not impacting one neighbourhood unfavourably,” Saskatoon recreation program manager Jody Hauta said.
Hauta said the city needs approximately 165 leaders to run recreational programs in the city to keep the pools open.
“We started about 18 leaders short and that includes the subs that we require for when staff calls in sick or have scheduled absences,” Hauta said. “For the most part, they are post-secondary students.”
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He said the shortened summer work term can be a hurdle when competing in a tough job market.
“Some years we do very well when the job market isn’t quite as hot, some years the job market is hot and students are looking to make as much money as they can during the summer and trying to get their funding for their university year coming ahead.
“There are always going to be some closures and we are always going to be in a bit of a balancing act in terms of looking at the staff we have available and looking at the sites we can have available.”
Hauta also noted that the Caswell Hill paddling pool will likely be permanently closed for the season after a mechanical failure last weekend.
Regardless, he said he is still pleased with the summer turnout so far and the community participation at the pools.
“We have been able to operate a majority of the sites for the majority of the summer.”
Service alerts are posted on the City of Saskatoon website for residents looking to check impacts in their neighbourhoods.
A virtual map is also available that includes closures and programming changes.
Signs will also be posted on location.
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