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Laura Yuen
St. Paul, Minn.

St. Louis Park drops swimming lessons following drowning

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Abdullahi Charif
Abdullahi Charif, 12, died in gym class at St. Louis Park Middle School. Charif died of an accidental drowning, the Ramsey County Medical Examiner's Office has determined. A teacher found the boy in the pool Thursday morning at the end of a swimming lesson. He died March 1, 2014, at Children's Hospital in St. Paul.
Courtesy of Fred Pritzker

Students returning to St. Louis Park Public Schools this week will not have swimming as part of their physical education curriculum this year.

Administrators say they're putting swim classes on hold in light of the drowning death of a 12-year-old at the middle school earlier this year.

Previous coverage
 • Family of boy who drowned in school pool seeks answers
 • School drowning highlights need for lifeguards, swimming lessons
 • Prosecutors will not press charges in school drowning

Instead, a task force of staff, community members and swimming experts will spend the school year figuring out what kind of swim lessons, if any, will be offered in the future, said district spokeswoman Sara Thompson.

"Anything and everything is on the table," Thompson said. "Do we offer full-scale swimming lessons? Do we keep the pools closed during the day for curriculum use and open only for athletic and community use?"

Any changes, such as requiring lifeguards, would likely involve additional costs, she added.

Seventh-grader Abdullahi Charif died in March after his body was pulled from the bottom of his school's pool during a gym class. A police investigation found he was playing a shoving game with classmates on a raft, even though he was a poor swimmer.

His family has sued the teacher and the school district, saying their negligence led to his death.

The St. Louis Park district has re-opened its pools this fall for after school swim practices and community education. Improved lighting and additional requirements are in place, including a policy mandating the presence of a certified lifeguard for every 20 swimmers in the pool. The lifeguard may be the coach.

Many parents believe swimming should be taught by the schools, Thompson said.

"It's such a community benefit that we have these pools. Not a lot of cities do. We recognize that," she said. "We want to be serving to our families, but we also have to balance that with safety, finances, and the best use for our students during the school day."