Fall River School Committee members pressed for a timeline on reopening the Durfee Jarabek Memorial Pool to public swimming after a district aquatics employee said the program has been closed since December.

FALL RIVER --

TOWN -- At the School Committee's August 19 meeting, Pamela Nickerson of Harvard Street, who described herself as a Fall River Public Schools aquatics employee without a contract, told the committee that open swim and public lessons at the $8 million Durfee Jarabek Memorial Pool have been closed to the public since December 2025. She asked the committee to hire back lifeguards and announce a swim schedule for fall 2026, citing the pool's filtration upgrades and taxpayer investment. Committee member Mr. Dias said he had not received any update on the pool over the summer and asked for a subcommittee meeting on the issue. Facilities and Operations subcommittee chair Mr. Aguiar said he met with aquatics program lead Chris Policino in the spring and again this month, and described plans still being worked out: a revolving account to fund the program, certified lifeguards, a Fall River residents-only policy, a proposed 5:30 a.m. adult morning swim, and a daytime program teaching swimming to Fall River students. Aguiar said a prior version of the program had grown too large to manage and involved informal cash handling, and he asked the administration for a memo clarifying whether the School Committee had ever formally approved the program. Aguiar said he expects to meet with Policino again "next week" to determine lifeguard staffing before any reopening.

Compiled from team and league reports, reader submissions, and local coverage.