‘It’s a lifesaving skill’: bill to offer free swimming lessons for children in Florida moves through

ORLANDO, Fla. — Florida could soon require free swimming lessons for low-income families at public schools across the state.

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The plan is to prevent drownings, the leading cause of deaths for children 4 and younger.

Roughly 400 children die every year in the U.S. because of drownings, most of them coming out of Florida, data from the C.D.C. shows.

The plan is to offer parents vouchers to get free swimming lessons for their kids.

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But the State is still deciding how much money will be put into this – if any at all – which leaves the scope of the program in question.

But for parents, it’s a matter of public health. “I’m in a very fortunate situation where I was able to have my oldest son prepared, but for those who don’t have the means, I think it will be such a blessing,” said Katie Rollins, who’s a mom of two boys. “We’re in Florida, there’s water everywhere, not only the pools.

There’s the ocean, beaches, even retention ponds at the park. It’s just never-ending possibilities for a situation of danger, and to me that qualifies as public safety.”

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Last year, 94 kids drowned in Florida, seven more have died this year, data from the state’s Department of Children and Families show; the number is expected to climb as summer approaches.

In Tallahassee, lawmakers are preparing to pass the “Swimming Lesson Voucher Program,” which would require school districts to offer vouchers to low-income families with kids 4-and younger. 

This bill would create the swimming lesson voucher program within the Florida department of Health and require the department to establish a network of swimming lesson vendors.

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For local organizations, like the Rosen Aquatic & Fitness Center, the passage of the bill would ensure fewer preventable deaths every year. “Swimming is a lifesaving skill.

It’s not just a sport, it’s just something we do in the summer for fun,” said Mike Miller, with the Rosen Aquatic & Fitness Center. “It’s a skill that will save the life of everyone that learns how to swim.”

The YMCA, which currently already offers similar programs, will likely join the effort should the bill become law. “We do provide financial assistance for low-income families, said John Lewis, with the YMCA. “With this new measure going through the Senate we are hopeful that could be expanded to everybody.”

If passed in both the House and the Senate, and then signed by the governor, the new law would go into effect this Summer.

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