SwimRVA challenges state finding that summer camps should have been licensed

RICHMOND, Va. -- SwimRVA is taking the Virginia Department of Education to court, challenging the state's finding that its summer camps did not qualify for an exemption from child-care licensing requirements when 9-year-old King Overton drowned at one of its camps.

SwimRVA filed a petition for appeal in Richmond Circuit Court on Sept. 2, asking a judge to overturn VDOE's July 20 decision and declare that its summer camps were exempt from state licensure. The organization argues the state misapplied Virginia law and imposed requirements that do not appear in the statute or state regulations.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: SwimRVA lawsuit: Inflatable blocked lifeguard when King Overton drowned

King Overton, who, according to his mother, could not swim, drowned June 15 on his first day of summer camp at SwimRVA's North location in Henrico County. His mother had enrolled him in the camp so he could learn to swim, according to his family's attorneys.

As CBS 6 previously reported, VDOE investigated whether SwimRVA's summer camps qualified for an exemption from state licensing requirements.

On July 20, VDOE determined SwimRVA was operating a child day program without a license or meeting an exemption under Virginia law. The agency directed SwimRVA to submit a compliance plan and said its camps would have to cease operations if they failed to come into compliance.

The state concluded the camp did not qualify as a "single-focus" instructional program.

According to VDOE's decision, SwimRVA provided nine hours of camp programming each day, Monday through Friday, including out-of-water activities such as kickball, human bowling and relay races. VDOE said its investigation showed only an hour and a half of that time was dedicated to swimming lessons, while SwimRVA's website designated two hours.

WATCH: Should SwimRVA have been licensed before 9-year-old King Overton drowned?

VDOE also found SwimRVA did not meet the requirements of other exemptions it had claimed, including one involving staff training and background checks. Among other issues, the state said SwimRVA did not require sworn disclosure statements from applicants or obtain central registry search results required under the exemption.

SwimRVA says the state got it wrong

In its appeal, SwimRVA argues that the sole instructional focus of the camps was swimming.

The organization acknowledges campers participated in dry-land activities but argues those activities were intended to build skills including confidence, stamina and strength that contributed to its swimming instruction. SwimRVA says the activities also built toward a talent show or "Swim Olympics" at the end of each camp session

SwimRVA also alleges VDOE orally told the organization that swim-related activities needed to account for at least 75% of campers' time for the program to qualify under the single-focus exemption.

In its court filing, SwimRVA argues there is no 75% requirement in Virginia law or VDOE regulations and calls the state's application of that alleged threshold "arbitrary and capricious."

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Parent demands answers after 9-year-old dies at SwimRVA summer camp

The organization also disputes VDOE's concern that it did not have a policy or procedure preventing a child from attending camp for more than 25 days within a three-month period. SwimRVA argues state law limits children's attendance but does not require a program to maintain the specific written policy VDOE cited. The appeal says no child attended its 2026 camp sessions for more than 25 days during a three-month period.

Camps changed after state's finding

Despite challenging VDOE's interpretation, SwimRVA says in its appeal that it modified its camps in response to the agency's requirements. The organization says those changes did not increase the amount of actual swim instruction campers received.

Then, in early August, the regulatory status changed.

As CBS 6 reported at the time, VDOE determined SwimRVA's summer camps could operate under an exemption from state licensure after the organization made changes to its camps.

That August determination did not end the dispute over the state's original finding.

SwimRVA says the July decision caused "serious harm" to its reputation in the Richmond community and its ability to continue operating its camps. It is asking the court to declare that its camps were exempt under Virginia law, including before it made the subsequent changes.

Drowning remains the subject of separate legal action

The licensing fight is separate from litigation surrounding King Overton's death.

King Overton's family has filed a $100 million wrongful-death lawsuit against SwimRVA. In previous CBS 6 reporting on that lawsuit, the family's attorneys alleged a 7-year-old child found King Overton just beyond a rope separating the shallower and deeper portions of the pool, in approximately four-and-a-half feet of water. The lawsuit also says an inflatable slide in the middle of the pool partially obstructed a lifeguard's view of where King Overton was located.

Those are allegations in the family's civil lawsuit and are separate from VDOE's licensing findings.

CBS 6 has been following the questions surrounding SwimRVA's licensing since shortly after King Overton's death. Read our earlier reporting on the state's licensing investigation.

Read our reporting on VDOE later granting the camps an exemption.

This is a developing story, so check back with WTVR.com for updates. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have info, photos or videos to share.