For the 23rd consecutive year, the East Greenbush Central School District has received the School Safety Excellence Award from Utica National Insurance Group. The district received the Titanium with Honors level designation this year, the highest level available, which includes a $500 check to be used for safety expenses.

The award, presented annually to Utica National’s clients, recognizes school districts’ safety efforts as they work to help keep students, staff and visitors safe.

“We are very grateful to not only Utica National for that recognition, but for all of our staff and everything that they do day in and day out to preserve the safety of the district wholistically,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Kurtis Kotes.

Schools are measured in a number of areas such as safety planning, transportation, playground safety, bullying prevention programs, and workers’ compensation.

The district’s comprehensive safety program, which is guided by the annual district safety plan, includes the following:

• All schools have a locked single point of entry through which students, employees and visitors enter
• All staff must wear photo ID badges while in school buildings
• All visitors must sign-in and put on a visitor sticker before entering school
• Security cameras monitor school entrances and surrounding areas
• Columbia High School and Howard L. Goff Middle School each have a police officer who serve as a School Resource Officer every day at those schools. They may also report to other schools as needed.
• District-employed security personnel monitor Columbia High School during school days and in the evening and on weekends
• All employees must be fingerprinted and pass a thorough background check before starting work in the District
• Students must adhere to the East Greenbush CSD Code of Conduct, which contains information on the range of consequences that may be imposed if students misbehave. This information is reviewed with students each year during the opening weeks of school.
• All schools have an integrated security system with the ability to lockdown buildings
• Every school in the district engages in a comprehensive set of safety drills (fire, lockdown, secured lockout) to ensure that students, faculty and staff are prepared should an emergency occur. Each November, every school in the District dismisses students 15 minutes early to test its Emergency Management Plan. The “Go Home Early Drill” tests the effectiveness of the transportation and communications systems in the event of an emergency.
• Safety training is provided to staff and students
• Student-issued chromebooks and computers have filtering and monitoring software
• Columbia and Goff have a digital hall pass system that provides real-time data on how many students are out of class at a given time and where they are in the buildings
• All school buses have stop arm cameras installed to monitor for vehicles illegally passing buses
• Bus ID card system allows for the Transportation Department and parents/caregivers to know where students are during transportation