BY JEFF CHUDZINSKINorth Country This Week

MASSENA — Massena Central School Board members are taking steps to create a pool coordinator position for the high school pool, however Superintendent Ron Burke tabled discussions in order to conduct more research. 

The move to table the discussion came at a recent school board meeting where Burke requested board members not take immediate action to allow him time to conduct further research. 

Burke said that he felt the position was important to ensure the safety of swimmers but noted the position would not be limited to just pool safety. 

While superintendent of Canton Central School District, Burke said a near drawing incident prior to his time in the role led to the district to do a deep dive on the pool plan and pool coordinator position. 

“We’re talking about the lives of children, the lives of community members. We need to make sure that we have dotted every I, crossed every T, that we have appropriate lifeguards, that the lifeguards know their roles, know what they can do, what they must do, where they’re seated, where they’re standing, what the attire is, because any one of those things go wrong and it’s a serious issue for a child who’s in the pool,” Burke said.

Burke said he would conduct more research on the role to ensure the stipend originally proposed would be appropriate for the position. 

Among the responsibilities for the position would be scheduling use of the pool, as well as ensuring compliance with regulations from the Department of Health, Burke said. 

“When we are out of compliance, DOH has every right to shut our pool down. Just some of the compliance issues, we had a couple back in December during an inspection. We need to have two pool plan books. One is with the pool coordinator and one is at the pool itself. In that book, everything must be in order,” Burke said.

Burke said the records need to be in order and available at the facility. Records that must be filed include certifications of lifeguards, as well as DOH approval for each lifeguard, he said. 

“It’s not just a matter of being a certified lifeguard. DOH actually wants to have an approved lifeguard,” he said. 

Officials say they may take action on the position at the May meeting.