The tragic deaths of two Winnipeg School Division students this summer at Grand Beach prompted a trustee to bring forward a motion Monday to add drown-proofing programs at schools.

On Aug. 1, David Medina, 12, and Jhonalyn Javier, 11, were pulled from the water at the western edge of West Beach, near Grand Beach's popular boardwalk area along Lake Winnipeg.

Winnipeg School Division trustee Mark Wasyliw said their deaths affected him deeply.

"We lost two students from our schools," he said Monday.

"I was thinking that something had to be done about this, and something in a positive and proactive way, that could help other students in a similar situation that may have just been recently into the country and may not have the type of experiences in their home country when it comes to basic swimming."

A similar program based in Ontario targets students in Grade 4 and involves three 45-minute to one-hour classes on what to do in deep water and survival skills if they fall through the ice.

"We have two major rivers intersecting the Winnipeg School Division and lots of children play on the ice, so … with the increase of the newcomer population in Winnipeg, I think it's a responsible reaction to what's happened," Wasyliw said.

"Swimming skills are not instinctual; they have to be taught. It's a life skill."

Offering the program in Winnipeg would come at a cost, but Wasyliw said there are ways to mitigate those costs through shared facilities programming with the City of Winnipeg.

"The way these programs are administered, they tend to be a partnership between the municipality like the City of Winnipeg and the school board and perhaps the province," Wasyliw said.

Trustee 'our champion,' says lifesaving society

The motion calls on the division to endorse the Lifesaving Society's Swim to Survive program or a similar water survival course, as well as discuss possible partnerships with the city and province.

The Lifesaving Society, which has been teaching Swim to Survive courses to students in northern Manitoba communities for 11 years, praised Wasyliw for bringing the proposal forward.

"I am so excited that Mark has become our champion. [The] Lifesaving Society has long believed that these skill sets should be taught through the schools," said Carl Shier, CEO of the society's Manitoba branch.

"It's a great opportunity to capture the largest audience at the best possible age and to learn a skill that they'll retain the rest of their life. We can reduce drownings by at least half if a program like this would get started."

Shier said three lessons can be enough for children to learn basic water survival skills, such as orienting themselves after falling unexpectedly into water, treading water and using a basic swim stroke to move themselves to safety.

The motion was tabled at a Winnipeg School Division board meeting Monday night. The division will vote on the motion at their next meeting on Oct. 17.

If passed, Wasyliw said the next step will be to discuss the possibility of forming partnerships with the city and province to develop the program.