Miami-Dade County officials recently gathered at Marva Y. Bannerman Park to update the public on the first year of the Zero Drownings Miami-Dade Initiative, a program offering free swimming lessons during the school day to thousands of preschool and kindergarten students across the county.
County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, Miami-Dade Schools Superintendent Dr. Jose Dotres, and others emphasized the program’s lifesaving mission.
“We are surrounded by water. That’s our blessing and unfortunately for our young children, it’s a curse,” said Mayor Levine Cava. “This initiative funds a long-term, large-scale water safety net in the Parks Department, with a dedicated office focused on swim safety.”
Despite decades of promoting water safety, drowning remains the leading cause of accidental death for children ages 1 to 9 in South Florida, particularly in urban areas where swimming lessons are less accessible. To combat this, the Zero Drownings Miami-Dade Initiative was launched in partnership with local organizations, providing 30-minute swimming lessons during school hours at public pools.
The program, backed by $1.8 million from The Children’s Trust and contributions from the American Red Cross South Florida Region, The Miami Foundation, United Way Miami, EDU Foundation, and the Templeton Family Foundation, serves four- and five-year-old students from at-risk areas. It includes kindergarten students and preschoolers from Head Start and Children’s Trust daycare centers, with a ratio of one instructor for every six students.
“We live in a beautiful community surrounded by pools, lakes, and the ocean, so it’s vital for children to learn to swim and for parents to have peace of mind,” said Dr. Dotres. So far, approximately 1,469 children have benefited from the lessons.
Using the Red Cross Learn-to-Swim curriculum, certified instructors teach basics such as floating, arm strokes, kicking, and breathing techniques. The goal is to help children feel comfortable in the water and gain skills to stay safe if they fall in or find themselves in distress. Some students even begin swimming independently after completing the program.
Parents like Barbara Severent, whose daughter participated in the pilot, praise the initiative: “Now my daughter is only five and she knows how to swim. When I go to the pool with her, I worry less.”
Studies show formal swimming lessons can reduce childhood drowning risk by 88 percent. Families are encouraged to continue lessons at local Miami-Dade pools to help children and their siblings build stronger swimming skills.
The initiative also prioritizes special needs students, particularly those with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), an important focus given Superintendent Dotres’s personal experience with two students lost to drowning while he was a principal.
Beyond lessons, the program educates families on water safety at home and in the community. Rebecca Charcon shared her son’s transformation: “He used to be afraid of water, but now we can’t keep him out of the pool.”
Miami-Dade County Public Schools also continues its nearly 50-year tradition of offering Red Cross swim lessons to Pre-K through 2nd grade using portable pools rotated among schools, complementing the new initiative.
Officials ended the press conference with swim safety tips, including assigning lifeguards, avoiding distractions, teaching children water safety, and removing pool toys when not in use.
City of Miami Commissioner Christine King vowed, “I will make sure this message reaches every constituent so we can achieve zero drownings.”
For more information on swimming lessons and safety tips, visit this website.
