This was posted on our district website:

Safety Efforts Earn Rhinebeck Central School District Utica National’s 2019 School Safety Excellence Award

The Rhinebeck Central School District is one of 156 school districts and Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) in New York State to receive Utica National Insurance Group’s “School Safety Excellence Award” for 2019 at the Titanium level. Titanium is the award’s most rigorous and prestigious level, and this year’s award is the ninth School Safety Excellence recognition for the Rhinebeck school district since 2008. The honor is presented annually and recognizes school districts’ safety efforts as they work to help keep students, staff and visitors safe.

The Rhinebeck Central School District received its award at Utica National’s 39^th annual school safety seminar at the Poughkeepsie Grand Hotel in Poughkeepsie, New York, one of seven such seminars the company hosts in the State. Mr. Thomas Burnell, Rhinebeck’s Assistant Superintendent for Support Services, accepted the certificate to commemorate the District’s safety efforts from utica national representatives.

For over 40 years Utica National has kept kids and school staff safe and currently insures more than 300 school districts in upstate New York alone. The Rhinebeck Central School District officials accepted a certificate to commemorate the District’s safety efforts from Utica National representatives.

Utica National’s School Safety Excellence Award Program has three levels – titanium, platinum, and gold – in which schools can earn a meritorious distinction by meeting specific criteria to enhance overall safety. Through the program, schools with their own transportation, schools with contract transportation, and BOCES are evaluated. Categories covered include bullying prevention programs, playground safety and other areas, and are measured using specific, quantifiable surveys.

“Safety and health concerns continue to be a priority in our school districts,” explained Brian Saville, Resident Senior Vice President in Utica National’s Educational Institutions Unit. “Districts that go ‘above and beyond’ to provide a safe, healthy and focused culture for learning are to be applauded, and we’re pleased to count the Rhinebeck Central School District among them.”

Mr. Saville noted that, beyond the recognition itself, an added benefit of following the safety program is the chance to pinpoint specific threats to safety. “The time to address those threats is before a loss happens, which really helps contribute to the safety culture that districts are working toward.”