PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — Summer is just around the corner and with that comes a renewed and urgent focus on water safety, especially for children.
A local organization is making sure kids in underserved communities have access to swimming lessons.
A report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows drowning deaths are on the rise in the U.S. In fact, the CDC said drowning is the number one cause of death for children ages 1 to 4.
“You can drown in as little as two inches of water,” said Anna Stewart, manager for the Drowning Prevention Coalition of Palm Beach County. “All the water has to do is cover your nose and mouth.”
In May, the Drowning Prevention Coalition of Palm Beach County restarted its Schools in Pools program, offering free swim lessons to kindergarten through second grade students at Gove Elementary School in Belle Glade.
"Unfortunately, there was a drowning incident in the Glades of an autistic child who happened to go to Gove Elementary School," Stewart said. "In an effort to prevent such incidents from happening again, Gove Elementary, as well as the Palm Beach County Parks and Recreation Department, became proactive and wanted to see if they could have swimming lessons during the school day at Pioneer Park Aquatics Center."
For two weeks, students were taken to Pioneer Park Aquatic Center during the school day for the swim lessons. The Palm Beach County School District provided transportation and collaborated on scheduling and towels, so children could participate.
"Space is limited, time is limited, and some of our kids don’t have transportation," Gove Elementary principal Kim Thomasson said. "I think it’s a real opportunity for our families and for our kids that they might not have otherwise had the chance to come and learn how to swim."
The CDC finds only 28% of Hispanics and 37% of Blacks have taken swimming lessons. Hispanics and Blacks make up the majority of the demographic in the city.
For Belle Glade mother Maxcia Valliere, she said she wishes these classes had been offered sooner, as she said it could have saved her 5-year-old son, Harley.
Valliere said back in December, as she was hanging clothes on an outdoor clothesline, she thinks Harley ran out of her home and drowned in the canal, just a few yards from the back of her home.
“I cry every day," she said. "My life can never be the same."
Statistics from the Florida Department of Children and Families showed Florida led the nation last year in drownings, with 97 deaths. That is up from the previous year.
Recent drownings was the reason Juanita Palmer signed up her son for the free swim lessons at Pioneer Park.
"It’s definitely a big weight lifted," Palmer said. "He doesn’t ever not have a flotation device off of him, so that’s his security blanket. Now he’s actually going underwater."
The Drowning Prevention Coalition of Palm Beach County is extending the free swim lessons to the Glades community at Pioneer Park Aquatics Center. The lessons will be offered to everyone from six months to senior citizens.
They have also shared these tips ahead of Memorial Day Weekend to keep everyone water safe and water smart.
- Designate a water watcher whose sole responsibility is to walk around the area for 10-15 minutes, making sure everyone is OK. Then, they can switch with someone else.
- Put up a fence around the pool with a self-locking or self-latching gate.
- Install door and window alarms that beep when it opens and closes.
- Teach your children how to swim. Also, make sure children don’t swim near the drains to prevent them from getting sucked or pulled.
WATCH: Drowning Prevention Coalition of Palm Beach County Manager Anna Stewart shares water safety tips
