Instructor changed clothes before helping drowning boy

• Instructor %27blew off%27 students%27 concerns%2C assuming student was messing around
• A school official%2C upon hearing commotion%2C dove into pool in his suit to pull boy from water
• Student was in last day of a three-week remedial swim class

DETROIT — The swimming instructor in charge of the class where a high school student drowned last year in Eastpointe, Mich., opted to change into his swimming clothes rather than jump into the pool when he learned that a boy was struggling in the water, authorities revealed Tuesday.

The instructor also was not certified as a swim teacher and was in the bleachers at East Detroit High School on Nov. 8 — not in the pool where he should have been — when students in the remedial swimming class ran to tell him that 14-year-old KeAir Swift was in trouble, Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith said.

Smith said his office on Monday authorized a charge of involuntary manslaughter against Johnathan Lamonte Sails, 24, of Detroit. The charge carries a potential 15-year prison sentence and/or $7,500 fine for a conviction.

Sails is expected to turn himself in Wednesday at 38th District Court in Eastpointe for arraignment, Eastpointe Police Lt. Neil Childs said.

According to Smith, Sails initially "blew off" the concerns of students, assuming that KeAir was just messing around, before he went down to check. It was only when more students came to him that the instructor left the bleachers.

By that time, KeAir was already at the bottom of the pool, Smith said. But instead of taking action, the instructor left to get changed, Smith said.

Another school official, hearing the commotion, ran to the pool and jumped into the water in his suit to pull KeAir out. But by that time, it was too late, Smith said.

"If (Sails) had immediately taken action, something might have been different," Smith said. "This needless tragedy could have easily been avoided."

Neither KeAir's mother nor Sails, of Detroit, could be reached for comment Tuesday.

"These are beginning swimmers, and we have a guy in there who has no certification," Smith said of Sails. "This isn't a cooking class where the guy lied about his credentials ... it's life and death where kids don't know how to swim."

Smith, who praised the work of police on the case, said authorities believe East Detroit Public Schools shares some blame, but that authorities would not be able to prove gross negligence on the district's part.

In a statement Tuesday, the school district said it received word earlier that day that the prosecutor was going to charge Sails, a contracted substitute teacher.

It stated that Sails is an employee of an outside contractor — Professional Educational Services Group — which has provided substitute teachers for the district and many other area school districts over the last several years.

Superintendent Joanne Lelekatch told the Detroit Free Press that Sails, who once also served as a track coach, has not been working in the district since the incident Nov. 8. She did not know how long he had been with the district.

Kristi Flietstra, general counsel of the contractor, said it is corporate policy not to discuss employment matters in the media. However, it did release a statement Tuesday: "We continue to keep the family of KeAir Swift and the East Detroit Public Schools community in our thoughts and prayers."

Lelekatch said in a statement Tuesday, "When tragedies such as this happen, our focus remains on the student, his peers and the family. In his short time with the district, the student involved earned the respect and admiration of his peers and faculty. He will be missed in our community."

Lelekatch said the district has been cooperating with authorities as they investigated the death, but said it would be "inappropriate for us to speculate about the charges, and we trust that the justice system will appropriately address the matter."

She said the school staffer who dove into the pool to try to save KeAir was a physical education teacher who was acting as an assistant principal that day.

Smith noted that police were able to quickly find out that the instructor was not certified. The prosecutor said the instructor had misrepresented his certification to the district.

Lelekatch said she could not speak to those comments or discuss any changes the district may have made since the incident. However, she said, the pool has not reopened and no decision has been made on when it will reopen.

KeAir was a Detroit resident who enrolled at East Detroit this school year as part of the schools-of-choice program, officials said. He was in the last day of a three-week swim class that was part of the school's physical education program when the incident happened Nov. 8.