Although the owner of a Westrook day care where a 3-year-old boy drowned last spring said deciding to reopen the pool was extremely difficult, she chose to do so after hearing a mother tell her of another freightening incident in the water at a summer camp.

The woman’s child was found face down in the water and needed to be resuscitated, but the mother didn’t know CPR.

“It touched my heart when I realized that I do have the resources to prevent that,” said Kim Cairns, the owner of Koala Child Kare and Learning Center. “Living in the state of Maine, swimming is an essential skill.”

After being closed for six months following the drowning of Andrew Thurston, the pool at a Westbrook day-care center will reopen Monday under the control of Joseph and Monique Seely, who own and run Safety Educators of Maine, one of three groups approved by the Maine Department of Health and Human Services for water safety training.

“This was a tragedy for everyone involved. Andrew was in our thoughts on a daily basis. In opening that pool, I hope to prevent something like this from happening again,” she said.

Joseph Seely will operate his Swim Time program as a separate entity from Koala Child Kare and Learning Center, located on Spring Street in Westbrook.

Seely helped the state write its emergency pool rules that were developed after the drowning. The rules will go before the Legislature next session for final review and implementation, and have increased requirements for child-to-staff ratios and staff training.

“It’s the layering of the eyes,” said Seely, whose own standards of conducting his aquatics program exceeds those required from the state. For a typical class of five to six children there will be one lifeguard on the deck whose sole duty is to watch; an instructor in the water who Seely requires to be a lifeguard as well, though the state does not, and one additional staff member as a third set of eyes.

An investigation of the drowning on March 27 concluded it was the result of neglect and inattention by center staff. The Maine Department of Health and Human Services also found Koala Child Kare and Learning Center in violation of licensing rules. The Maine Medical Examiner’s office ruled the death was an accidental drowning.

Seely said his company and Koala Child Kare were brought together by a number of parents who wanted their children to get lessons at the pool. Safety Educators of Maine had not had its own pool before, instead offering its aquatics program to day-care centers with pools. Seely said Koala had previously offered swimming lessons. He is offering a full aquatics program that will teach the youngest to swim and older ones to become lifeguards. The program is available to both children at Koala as well as to members of the public. CPR and water-safety training will be offered to parents, as well.

Heidi Pranger, a Portland mother, is signing up both her daughters, ages 2 and 5, for the new swim program. Pranger wasn’t working and had taken her children out of Koala Child Kare for a few months around of the time of the drowning, but said she has no concerns with the child-care center.

“It’s great. That’s why (my children) are back here,” Pranger said. “I just think it was an unfortunate accident that happened.”

Donna Cote is a 19-year employee at Koala Child Kare and mother of a 6-year-old daughter who has been at the center since she was 7 weeks old. Cote said she had no concerns about putting her child in the swimming program at Koala before the accident, and has no concerns now.

“It’s terrible what happened to Andrew, but I’d like my daughter to learn to swim,” Cote said. “I’ve been here 19 years, and we’ve never had an accident, but I think the (new state) rules are good.”

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