April 2022 Coach’s Quiz

QUESTION #1

You want to prevent kids from drowning by requiring them to be responsibly supervised when using the pool. Local ordinances stipulate that all children under 14 must be supervised to use a public pool. Which is the least restrictive way to formulate your own rule?  

a. Children under age 14 must be supervised by an adult

b. Children under age 14 must be supervised by a parent or adult guardian

c. Non-swimmers must be supervised by a proficient swimmer

QUESTION #2

Tenants complain that they can’t swim laps in the pool because kids are always getting in the way and ask for your help. You consider the request for unobstructed lap times reasonable and want to accommodate it. What’s the least restrictive way to do that?   

a. Reserve the pool for “adult use” and require kids to swim in the “family pool”

b. Designate one hour of each day during which pool use is restricted to swimming laps

c. Ban kids from swimming in the pool during “adult swim” hours

COACH’S ANSWERS & EXPLANATIONS

QUESTION #1

Correct answer: c

Reason: The principles discussed in Bad Rule #4 apply to this situation:

Bad Rule #4: All Children Must Be Supervised by a Parent or Adult Guardian

While keeping kids from swimming without proper supervision is a legitimate safety purpose, the key to compliance is to create a rule that will accomplish the purpose in the least restrictive way possible. The third formulation is the least restrictive because it boils things down to the essentials—non-swimmers must be supervised by swimmers—without regard to age or family relationships. So, c. is the right answer.

Wrong answers explained:

a. This isn’t a terrible choice because it mirrors the local ordinance in setting the age at which supervision is needed at under 14. But HUD and courts are free to question whether a local requirement is reasonable. The more significant problem with the rule is that it requires supervision by “an adult,” which unreasonably excludes people ages 17 and under from supervising even if they’re capable of doing so. This could come into play if, say, it prevents a 13-year-old tenant from swimming with his 17-year-old lifeguard brother unless somebody 18 is around to supervise him.

b. Choice b. is even worse because it requires supervision by not only an adult but one who’s a parent or legal guardian, which unreasonably excludes siblings, babysitters, friends, and non-parental relatives, even if they’re crackerjack swimmers. 

QUESTION #2

Correct answer: b

Reason: The principles discussed in Bad Rules #1, #2, and #3 come into play in this situation:

Bad Rule #1: Children May Not Use the Swimming Pool

Bad Rule #2: Children May Swim Only in the Family Pool

Bad Rule #3: The Hours of [a.m./p.m.] Are Reserved for Adult Swims

A case can be made for reserving time for exclusive use of the pool by adults, provided that it’s done in as unrestrictive a way as possible. The best approach is to exclude the things that the kids are doing to interfere with the adult tenants’ enjoyment of the pool, rather than the kids themselves. Formulation b. does that by imposing a narrow window reserved exclusively for swimming laps, an activity in which kids, too, can partake, as long as they stay in their lane. That’s why b. is the right answer.

Wrong answers explained:

a. The reason a. is wrong is that having “adult” and “family” pools is essentially a form of segregation that’s legally equivalent to requiring black and white tenants to use separate pools. The approach is even more egregious when the pools reserved for adult use are more numerous or superior to the family pools.

c. This answer is wrong because banning children from using swimming pools during certain hours may prevent families with children from having the “full use and enjoyment of the premises” to which they’re entitled under the FHA. In a family discrimination lawsuit, the landlord would bear the burden of justifying the rule. While accommodating adults might be a permissible purpose, the landlord would also have to show that excluding kids for “adult swims” is the least restrictive way to accomplish that objective. And that would be extremely difficult.