H.4433 would require all students in grades five through twelve receive annual instruction in swimming and water safety. An exception made for the swimming requirement for any schools without a pool, and without access to a pool within ten miles of the school site. There is no exception for instruction in water safety which must be given by a person possessing “a current certificate from the American Red Cross aquatic instructor training program or the YMCA of the United States training program”.
The primary purpose of schools is to cultivate students’ minds. Even if physical education is conceded as a critical component of schooling, there are plenty of ways a school can instruct students in physical fitness that don’t impose the costs and inconvenience (travel, finding instructors) of swimming instruction.