Assessing Stakeholder Opinions About the Nantucket Community Pool
| Sponsor: | Nantucket Community School (NCS) |  |
| Sponsor Liaison: | Alicia Graziadei, Lindsay Pykosz, James Voyages | |
| Student Team: | Aidan Carter-Frem, Lillian Hanly, Elizaveta Tcherniaeva, Justin Yip | |
| Abstract: | The Nantucket Community Pool opened at Nantucket High School in 1989 and remains a vital community resource. The Nantucket Community School manages the pool but strives to meet the changing demands of a growing community. We analyzed patterns in pool usage and assessed the opinions of the community and stakeholders to determine how to optimize current programming with the current staffing, space, and scheduling limitations. Based on our findings, we recommend how to change program offerings, scheduling, and registration, and how to improve pool facilities to better meet community demands. | |
| Link: |
Final Report: Nantucket Community Pool – Final Report Final Presentation: Nantucket Community Pool – Final Presentation |
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Executive Summary
Community pools have a long history in the United States, with the first public swimming pools built in the 1890s (Wiltse, 2008). Teaching people to swim is one essential function of public pools, especially given that drowning is the third leading cause of death worldwide (World Health Organization, 2024). Formal swimming lessons can reduce that risk, but public pools do much more than just teach people to swim (Ramirez 2022). They serve as a community hub, a place where kids and adults can socialize and engage in fun activities. Traditionally, community pools have offered a variety of programs from swimming lessons to Aquacise classes. Recently, programs for the elderly, physical rehabilitation, and people with special needs are becoming more popular (Tipping, 2023). Swimming programs are driven by public demand and a growing awareness of the multitude of benefits, including mitigating the risks of drowning, promoting physical and mental rehabilitation, improved cardiovascular health and overall wellness, and even enhanced academic success.
In 1989, the town of Nantucket, MA, opened a community pool as part of the new high school complex and tasked the Nantucket Community School with overseeing programming and maintenance. The Nantucket Community School tries to meet the changing and competing demands for programming with a modest staff and budget within the physical limitations of the pool. These challenges are exacerbated by the enormous seasonal variations in populations and the difficulties in recruiting sufficient staff because the cost of living on Nantucket is very high.
Goals and Objectives
The goal of this project was to evaluate the current usage of the Nantucket Community Pool and recommend new programs and how to optimize current programming with the current staff, space, and scheduling limitations. To accomplish this goal, we identified and completed four objectives.
Objective 1: Evaluate patterns in the recent and current uses of the Nantucket Community Pool.
Objective 2: Determine the opinions of staff and other stakeholders regarding topics such as programming, use, management, operations, and finances.
Objective 3: Determine the opinions of the community (pool users and nonusers) on pool usage and programming, hours of operation, communication and outreach, and management.
Objective 4: Recommend realistic and future changes to programming, facilities, and management that better fulfill the community’s needs.
To achieve this goal and accomplish our objectives, we performed an analysis of past program participation data and the current scheduling of programs to identify trends in pool usage. We developed a survey that was distributed by NCS to current and former patrons of the Nantucket Community Pool and received 197 responses. We interviewed current and past directors who have managed the Nantucket Community Pool, staff members, other stakeholders, and community members to better understand how the pool operates, the demands from the community, and the limitations that prevent the demands from being met.
Conclusions
Based on our research, we drew nine conclusions regarding pool hours, programming, registration, and facilities:
Conclusion 1: The scheduling of pool hours and programming is inefficient
The current schedule does not effectively optimize the hours between pool programming, open swim hours, and programs from other organizations. As a result, there are programs with an insufficient amount of time or sessions and lanes at the pool going unutilized for any activity during certain hours. Recommendations 1, 2, and 3 refer to this issue.
Conclusion 2: The capacity of programs is insufficient
There are no available slots in programs, such as Learn-to-Swim and Family Swim, to meet demand, which impedes many community members from attending programs at the pool. Recommendations 1 and 6 address this issue.
Conclusion 3: Registering for programming online is difficult
Members of the community have difficulties registering for programs online because registration times are inconvenient, and website navigation is difficult. Recommendations 4 and 5 address this issue.
Conclusion 4: The quality of the facilities needs to be improved
The overall facilities, particularly the locker rooms, lack both quantity and quality to satisfy the community. The locker rooms are too small and need more frequent cleaning. Recommendations 7 and 8 address this issue.
Conclusion 5: The facility’s connection with the high school creates operational limitations
The physical and operational connection to the high school makes it difficult for the Nantucket Community Pool to operate independently from the high school. Thus, the pool cannot be open to the public as often or at all when the high school is closed on the weekends or holidays. Recommendation 10 addresses this issue.
Recommendations
Based on our findings and conclusions, we have developed two sets of recommendations.The first set of recommendations (1-5) can be more easily implemented given existing staffing,facilities, and resources. The second set of recommendations (6-9) is a ‘wish list’ of suggestions that may be more difficult to implement and will require more time, resources, and community support.
Recommendation 1: We recommend the NCS optimizes the current schedule to better suit the community’s demands
NCS should consider rearranging the schedule to allow for more program times that are more convenient for their audiences (e.g., early morning lap swim, midday Aquacise classes, non-working hours Learn-to-Swim). Another change that could be implemented is overlapping programs of similar age groups to maximize the use of the pool.
Recommendation 2: We recommend adding more physiotherapy & adaptive swimming programs
Collaborating more with Nantucket S.T.A.R would help the Nantucket Community Pool become more inclusive to community members who have disabilities. Furthermore, adding more aquacise or physiotherapy programs to the pool would be both a popular addition and a beneficial resource to improve the community’s health. Another method that could be explored is to utilize more types of equipment to improve the quality of the body.
Recommendation 3: We recommend NCS extends hours on Saturday and opens the pool on Sundays
Having more weekend hours for open swimming, early mornings on Saturdays, and midday on Sundays, would provide more accessible hours for the community. For a smaller scale extension to operational times, NCS could start by adding an additional hour at 7 AM for open swim.
Recommendation 4: We recommend improving the registration process equity
To improve equity in the registration process, NCS should consider changing the registration times outside of work hours or on Sundays to improve the accessibility of registration. We also recommend that registration times are staggered among programs instead of all occurring at the same time to allow parents with multiple children to register children of different skill levels at different times instead of simultaneously.
Recommendation 5: We recommend improving the website and registration system’s navigability
We recommend reviewing the website with an expert in human-computer interaction to see how the website could be optimized to improve the user experience and comprehensibility. Alternatively, NCS could host an in-person think-aloud test with a sample audience to identify difficulties in navigating the website.
Recommendation 6: We recommend NCS recruits more staff members
We recommend that NCS promote the recruitment of high school athletes more by advertising the benefits of being a staff member and increasing the amount and frequency of lifeguard certification classes throughout the various seasons.
Recommendation 7: We recommend that facility repairs, and maintenance should be improved
We recommend more frequent cleaning should be performed in the locker rooms to reduce wet floors and improve cleanliness. The drainage system should also be upgraded to reduce the chance of clogging, flooding, and mold.
Recommendation 8: We recommend expanding the locker room and shower facilities
Larger or more locker rooms and shower spaces would reduce overcrowding and improve sanitation. Additionally, having more locker rooms will increase the flexibility of pool programs, allowing multiple programs to run at the same time.
Recommendation 9: We recommend building a second pool
The construction of another pool that operates fully independent from the high school would help solve many of the concerns about program scheduling and capacity. Also, a new facility means that larger locker rooms and more modernized pool cleaning technology can be installed.
We hope that this project helps the Nantucket Community Pool to run more efficiently and to better meet the needs of the Nantucket community.