WHITELAND, Ind. — Changes are coming to a local school district's swimming pool policy four months after a student drowned during PE class.
Alaina Dildine, 15, was a freshman at Whiteland Community High School who drowned after having a seizure in the swimming pool in May.
A police investigation determined she'd gone underwater and went unnoticed for 52 minutes.
The investigation found no one was criminally liable.
Since then, the district has been working on revising its physical education swim program and has proposed several changes, including:
- All lifeguards will wear specialized uniforms so they're easily identified
- Lifeguards and instructors will be banned from having a cellphone on the pool deck during classroom instruction or supervision
- All students will have to wear drowning detector headbands.
Click here for a complete look at the revised policy proposal.
School board members passed the proposal during a first reading earlier this week. A second reading will be considered next month.
What are drowning detection headbands?
Clark-Pleasant Schools is purchasing a set of drowning detection headbands from Wave Drowning Detection System. The district will have a classroom set of 50 within the next few weeks.
The headbands are worn by students in the pool. Lifeguards and/or instructors wear a wristband that vibrates when a headband goes underwater for a period of time. An alarm also sounds.
A school spokesperson said another district is currently using the system in northern Indiana. It’s also used by summer camps and community pools.