North Whidbey Parks and Recreation Board of Commissioners will hold a special public meeting Thursday to discuss the potential dissolution of the North Whidbey Aquatic Club.

The meeting is 5 p.m. in the Oak Harbor School District board room. The board’s regular meeting follows at 7 p.m.

In addition to possibly dissolving the club in August, the board will discuss “non-competitive swim team alternatives.”

The special meeting was called after Parks and Recreation Commissioner Wendy Shingleton returned a motion to the table during the May 25 meeting to dissolve the swim team by Aug. 15.

This motion was presented after a proposal was shared by Executive Director Steve McCaslin on how to make the swim club self supporting.

That proposal included the swim coach position taking over the high school contract and that revenue being rolled into his salary.

The taxpayer-funded parks and recreation district pays about $61,000 annually for the swim coach’s salary and benefits.

That proposal was rejected by a majority of the commissioners on the grounds commissioners felt the proposal had the swim club fees diverted to cover the cost of the coach and no other services of the pool.

Swim parent Kimberly Merrill sent out a mass email this week urging people to attend Thursday’s meeting and speak in favor of keeping the swim club and its paid coach.

The commissioners, she wrote, “have a target on our collective backs and are doing their best to manipulate details so that they do not have to listen to any opposition.”

“They will not bargain in good faith, they have broken previous promises, they will not answer emails,” Merrill wrote. “Our parents and our booster club have attempted an open dialogue with them over the last year and are rebuffed and ignored consistently.”

The assertion is something that Shingleton has repeatedly denied, saying commissioners have tried to work with parents and she does return emails.