MENTOR, Ohio — After facing a shortage of trained lifeguards at local pools, The City of Mentor is offering new incentives to help staff their pools for the summer of 2022.
The City of Mentor has increased pay for new lifeguards from $8.25 an hour to $12 an hour for the 2022 season. Additionally, the city is offering a $2 per hour bonus based on the availability of lifeguards. Returning lifeguards will be eligible to make up to $16 based on how long they have been with the pool.
“We need a minimum of 80 lifeguards on staff to effectively operate all three municipal pools through the course of the swimming season,” said Kenn Kaminski, Parks & Recreation Director, “By this time of year, we are usually fully staffed, but due to a lack of applicants, we are at less than 20% of our staffing goals. As a result, Morton Pool and Garfield Pool will, unfortunately, remain closed this year, and it looks like we’ll be forced to limit hours at Civic Center as well.”
The Civic Center Pool is currently the only one of three Mentor pools set to open this summer, due to the shortage.
The opening date is scheduled for Monday, June 6, but the lack of lifeguards is leading to potential shortened hours of operations, unless there is a significant increase in lifeguard applications.
Lifeguards for the City of Mentor are required to commit to 25 hours per week, including afternoon, weekend and evening shifts. Applicants 15 years or older, who are strong swimmers and have a valid American Red Cross (or similar) Lifeguarding Training Certification, including CPR for Professional Rescuers Certification & First Aid, are eligible for the positions.
Between June 6-10, the city of Mentor will offer a lifeguarding certification course at the Civic Center Pool from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Registration for the course is $175 but will be reimbursed to anyone working as a lifeguard at the Mentor pool.
Anyone interested in the course can sign up by calling (440) 974-5720.
EDITOR'S NOTE: The video above previously aired on 3News regarding a summer concert series coming to Cleveland.