The alarm goes off at 4:20am. I’m already exhausted, but I know the misery has only just begun. I crawl out of bed and walk out into the frozen tundra to drive to the school. After I arrive, the team John Jay Men’s Swim Team takes thirty-minute bus ride to our “home” pool for practice. Imagine if you had to do this every day. I bet you wouldn’t like it either.

In the early 2000s, there was a proposal to build a swimming pool at John Jay. It was quickly shot down due to high costs and general inconveniences, so the idea vanished. Since then, both the boys and girls John Jay swim teams have found off site pools for practice and meets. They take the bus to and from practice and meets. This itself is an inconvenience, however, because swimming is not seen as a priority to the school. Finally, fifteen years later, the topic resurfaced.

Today, having a pool at a high school is considered a luxury. In Northern Westchester, there are few schools with indoor swimming pools and few communities with outdoor public pools. If John Jay were to build a pool, it would be a valuable asset for the school and the community. It would not only serve as a competition pool for high school teams, but could also be used for physical education classes and fee-based community use. In addition, fees generated by the pool’s use could cover the pool’s construction and operating costs.

The addition of a pool would be highly valuable for competition purposes for the high school teams. It would elevate the status of John Jay, as other schools would look up to us for having the latest pool technology and for having the privilege of hosting meets. Building a pool would also create more time for practice, which creates stronger bonds among teammates. In addition, having a pool on campus creates a greater connection to John Jay and the athletic school spirit, rather than being alienated to an off-site “home” pool.

The pool will lure more than just competitive swimmers; it will invite recreational and practical uses such as physical education for students and use by the community. Swimming for physical education could prove beneficial. According to Julie Boehlke of Livestrong, “Learning the basic fundamentals of swimming during PE class assures you that [your child] is engaging in a safe aquatic experience. Not only will proper aquatic training teach your child how to swim — training and water safety helps save lives.” Physical Education swimming provides a valuable opportunity for students to learn water safety and survival skills. In addition to Physical Education use, the pool would be valuable to the community as a whole. The pool could offer memberships to community members at a rate for use. The pool also can be rented out to different organizations or events, such as swim lessons or adult swim programs. The pool has an endless number of possibilities from which to profit.

Aside from these practical uses for the pool, it will eliminate the costs of the swim team and provide a return on the money invested for construction. The high school swim teams are costly due to the constant need of transportation. Since we have no pool on campus, we must travel via bus to practice and to meets every day. Building a pool would eliminate almost all these costs. We would still need to travel to a few meets, but the majority could take place at John Jay. Next, the pool has endless opportunities from which to profit. With the memberships, swim lessons, and rentals of the pool to different organizations, it will easily pay for its own maintenance and refund the original cost of construction.

Many people, however, think that building a pool is a bad idea. They think swimming isn’t popular enough to make this investment, or that the increase in taxes and cost to maintain the pool will be insurmountable. This would include staffing lifeguards, managing the plumbing and filters, and insurance premiums that come with the ownership of a pool. Many feel that community members won’t flock to the pool. I disagree. According to the USA Swimming website, the cost to build a new fully functional pool with a building is $1.7 million to $2.1 million. From a taxpayer’s perspective, one may think that is a lot. However, According to a 2013 demographic study by Statistical Forecasting for the Katonah-Lewisboro School District, there are roughly 7000 households in the district. If 7000 households pay for this debt over a span of roughly thirty years, it would only increase each household’s taxes by $20 per year. I came to this conclusion by dividing the average cost of building a pool, $1.9 million, by the number of households, 7000, and then again by the number of years, 30. Due to the lack of pools in Northern Westchester, having a pool in a central location, like the Katonah-Lewisboro School District, appeals to other local communities as well. It offers a closer and cheaper alternative to a generic gym pool.

Overall, building a pool would be beneficial and profitable for the District. Between community uses such as memberships and entertaining other programs, the pool will pay for its own maintenance and refund the cost to build it. For school uses, the pool is a valuable asset for physical education, as teaching water safety is not only good for exercise but is a life-saving skill. The pool can be used by the high school teams for practice and competition, eliminating transportation costs. Finally, taxes would not increase by a large margin, calculated to be roughly $20 dollars a year. Looking forward, a pool would engage our students and communities while providing a profit for the district. As students and community members, you can bring this topic up with your class executives at a Student Council Meeting or a School Board Meeting. If the idea is accepted, a petition would be a great way to start the potential construction of a pool at John Jay.