Kids First Swim School Files Lawsuit Against Carroll County Health Department

KIDS FIRST Swim Schools, a Maryland company with a location in Finksburg, has filed a $2 million lawsuit against the Carroll County Health Department (CCHD), Baltimore County Department of Health (BCDH) and the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (MDHMH) following allegations in June that the swim school was operating without a permit, according to a news release.

In mid-June, the CCHD sent out a news release warning residents that the KIDS FIRST Swim School, located at 2970 Dede Road in Finksburg, had been operating without a valid swimming pool permit for 15 months, citing inadequate control of their pool’s disinfection and other health and safety violations.

“We know we operate clean facilities," KIDS FIRST Owner Gary Roth said in a statement. "Independent labs have tested our water to be cleaner than Carroll County and Baltimore County drinking water. Why Carroll County singled us out for not being able to meet a standard that nobody meets, only they know." 

Ed Singer of the Carroll County Health Department told Patch in June that in his 25 years with the department, he's never had to issue a suspension notice to a pool facility. 

The lawsuit alleges that for the past year and a half, the State and County departments have been harassing KIDS FIRST’s schools in Finksburg and Cockeysville by making inaccurate and unfair claims about the quality of their pool water.

"We want to assure our loyal customers that there was never a health risk to their children or our employees. We would never let that happen," Kids First Swim School Owner Gary Roth said in a statement. "Our water is cleaner than Carroll County drinking water.”

The lawsuit further alleges that the CCHD and MDHMH singled out the business for violating a "previously obscure and generally unenforced" code, according to a news release. 

According to a news release from KIDS FIRST, "the CCHD used the maximum combined chlorine standard of 0.2 parts per million (ppm) to summarily suspend KIDS FIRST’s permit to operate, and then used various media outlets to force KIDS FIRST to suspend operations and replace their disinfection system with an inferior system." 

The lawsuit claims that this 0.2 ppm combined standard is not being applied to any other pools in the County, or the State for that matter. 

"This case was simply the Carroll County Health Department acting out of control and we intend to hold them accountable for their reckless, vindictive and malicious behavior,” Roth said.

The lawsuit was filed in the Circuit Court of Carroll County on July 12.

Ed Singer of the Carroll County Health Department could not be reached for comment Tuesday.