REPORT TO THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: AARON A. AGUIRRE, Director
Parks, After School, Recreation, and Community Services Department
ALDI RAMIREZ, Assistant Director
Parks, After School, Recreation, and Community Services Department
BY: SARA HAMILTON, Program Manager
Parks, After School, Recreation, and Community Services Department
SUBJECT
Title
RESOLUTION - Authorizing the Director of Parks, After School, Recreation and Community Services (PARCS) or Designee to respond to Fresno Unified School District’s (FUSD) Request for Qualifications (RFQ) for reimbursement for Aquatics Programming at up to seven FUSD School Sites totaling up to $350,000 under the California Department of Education’s Expanded Learning Opportunity Program administered by FUSD and Authorizing the Director of PARCS or Designee to Enter into Aquatics Related Funding Agreements Associated with the RFQ on Behalf of the City of Fresno (City).
Body
RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends City Council authorize the Director of PARCS or Designee to respond to FUSD’s RFQ for reimbursement for Aquatics Programming at up to seven FUSD School Sites totaling up to $350,000 under the California Department of Education’s Expanded Learning Opportunity Program administered by FUSD and Authorizing the Director of PARCS or Designee to enter into aquatics related funding agreements associated with the RFQ on behalf of the City.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The PARCS Department is seeking approval to respond to an RFQ for reimbursement for aquatics programming totaling up to $350,000 to FUSD under the California Department of Education’s Expanded Learning Opportunity Program and authorization for the Director of PARCS or designee to enter into aquatics related funding agreements associated with the RFQ on behalf of the City. This authorization will enable an initial one-year agreement and enable future year amendments between the City and FUSD to expand on access to Blue Space and utilize up to seven FUSD aquatics facilities located at Bullard High School, Edison High School, Fresno High School, Hoover High School, McLane High School, Roosevelt High School, and Sunnyside High School to conduct swim lessons and offer recreational swim. Approval of this agreement will allow the PARCS Department to utilize FUSD’s facilities to provide the community swim lessons and recreational swim under the oversight of Red Cross certified lifeguards and swim instructors. FUSD will be providing scholarships for their students to attend the swim lessons at no-cost to the participants at FUSD locations. Participants who show proof of enrollment at a Fresno Unified School at time of registration can receive the FUSD scholarship for no-cost lessons. Swim lessons and recreational swim are open to all ages and community members and are offered in accordance with the rates of the Master Fee Schedule. The RFQ and related agreement(s) with FUSD will enable additional Blue Space access beyond the ten City-owned sites; without council’s approval to respond to the RFQ, the City will be unable to negotiate additional time slots for swim lessons and recreational swim.
BACKGROUND
FUSD and the PARCS Department have worked together for many years to provide programming to the community, especially our youth. Partnerships with FUSD include after school programs, extended learning opportunities, and access to FUSD aquatic facilities through the Blue Space Program. The Blue Space Program provides an opportunity for additional safe and secure locations (in addition to City owned aquatics facilities) for the community to participate in swim lessons and recreational swim under the supervision of Red Cross certified lifeguards employed by the City.
The previous agreement between the City and FUSD for use of pools through the Blue Space Program was executed in May 2018 for one year, with the provision that it could be extended administratively year to year by the City and FUSD with an addendum so long as sufficient appropriations were in place to fund the program. The agreement was administratively extended in 2019; no agreement was initiated in 2020 due to the pandemic; and the agreement was administratively extended in 2021 through June 2022. For the summer 2022 Blue Space Program, the PARCS Department desires to respond to the RFQ and enter into related agreements to provide additional opportunities to our community to learn the importance of water safety, become efficient swimmers, and stay cool from the summer heat.
Partnering with FUSD will allow the City to serve more community members as it provides expanded access to seven additional pools citywide. This reduces financial and transportation barriers to pools and participation in aquatics. As a result of this partnership, FUSD aquatics facilities would be open for both structured swim lessons taught by certified lifeguards and instructors, and recreational swim for the entire community.
The number of available locations and number of swim lessons offered are contingent upon availability at each FUSD facility. At maximum capacity at the seven FUSD sites, the City will be able to provide three sessions of swim lessons at each site. The sessions are two weeks long, 25 minutes each day and are offered five days a week. Each session serves four competency levels simultaneously including, tadpole swimmers, goldfish swimmers, shark swimmers, and dolphin swimmers. Tadpoles are exposed to basic swimming skills such as breath control, paddling, kicking and floating. Goldfish work to improve their tadpole skills and are introduced to buoyancy, body position, propulsion, and coordinated strokes. Sharks focus on increasing the swimmers’ endurance, water safety skills and introduce the swimmer to additional coordinated strokes. The final level of lessons are the most skilled swimmers, the dolphins. Dolphins focus on the coordination of movements to swim more smoothly, efficiently and for longer distances. Recreational swim will be offered for two hours before or after swim lessons, depending on a morning or afternoon time slot availability at each aquatic facility. The initial term will run from, June 2022 through August 2022, and offer approximately 40,320 lessons to 4,032 individuals and 156 hours of recreational swim. Future terms will be dependent on aquatic facility availability and budget appropriations.
PARCS will be able to record the efficiency and effectiveness of the lessons by tracking the percentage of those who complete their lessons and are able to move up four levels. With safe access to pools and more opportunities for lessons, the PARCS Department strongly believes that we can have an impact on helping prevent water related injuries and deaths. The PARCS Department and FUSD will cross promote access to swim lessons and recreational swim to encourage community participation.
ENVIRONMENTAL FINDINGS
The contracted services will be provided at FUSD aquatic facilities. By definition provided in the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15378 they do not qualify as “projects” and therefore are exempt from CEQA requirements.
LOCAL PREFERENCE
Local preference is not applicable since this item will not include a bid or award of a construction or services contract.
FISCAL IMPACT
The response to the RFQ will have no new impact to the General Fund. The cost of providing swim lessons and recreational swim is built into the Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 PARCS Department budget and the proposed FY 2023 budget request. Reimbursement revenue received from FUSD will be acknowledged in FY 2023 and will offset the City’s cost to operate at FUSD sites.
Attachment:
Resolution