Safety Efforts Earn East Greenbush Central School District Safety Excellence Award

East Greenbush Central School District is one of the 100 school districts and Board of Cooperative Educational Services in the state to receive the "2008 School Safety Excellence Award" from the Utica National Insurance Group.

Utica National officials presented the award at its 28th annual school safety seminar, one of the seven held in New York State. Utica insures more than 300 school districts in upstate New York for property and liability insurance and is one of the leading companies in the field.

East Greenbush Central School District received a certificate from the insurance company to commemorate the district's safety efforts.

"Safety and health concerns are a priority in our school districts. Whether we are parents seeing our child off on the school bus, teachers charged with the responsibility of educating, or staff who maintain the facility, there is a common thread of attention to safety issues," program initiator and Eastern Regional Office Loss Control Manager James Kristoff said. "It is with great pleasure that we recognize those schools that not only take safety to heart, but go above and beyond to provide a safe, healthy, and focused culture for learning."

Utica National's School Safety Excellence Award Program helps participating schools enhance overall safety through measurable assessment. The program evaluates schools with their own transportation on 17 categories, schools with contract transportation on 16 categories and Boces on 11 categories, from school playground safety to indoor air quality, with specific, quantifiable data-gathering surveys. "The payoff goes beyond recognition - if our program is followed properly, it should enable schools to pinpoint specific threats to safety," Mr. Kristoff said.

The award program has three levels (titanium, platinum, and gold) in which schools can earn a meritorious distinction by meeting specific criteria.