BRYAN, Texas — In the Brazos Valley, Adamson Lagoon Park shared how its staff shortages have impacted their pool hours this summer.
Ashley Waldon, Aquatics Supivseor, said the shortages started in May.
Waldon said they are working to fill the shortages, which has also forced their staff to pick up the slack by taking on more hours.
"We started off with maybe 15 lifeguards back at the beginning of may then we've slowly but surely been growing since then. We did have staffers that were working 55 hours a week just to make ends meet so we can open for the public and all of our programs that we had scheduled," said Waldon.
Waldon told KAGS that the company's goal was to ensure the pool would be ready for the public daily. They wanted to get back to operating at the full hours during the summer.
Waldon is grateful that she currently has an increasing staff willing to pitch in. The park staff is planning to be open more during the summer.
"The more and more staff we got they've been really understanding on hours being cut back and stuff like that. We have finally gotten about 54 lifeguards certified during the process, it was definitely a large effort we had to make to get that going," said Waldon.
According to Waldon, at the beginning of May, Adamson Lagoon hosted lifeguard classes every weekend. The classes became a lifesaver for the lifeguard shortages they were facing.
Waldon gave credit to her staff for their willingness to go above and beyond to help.
"They've been super understanding and hard-working, an amazing staff here," said Waldon.