PACE Awards recognize Forest Grove School District as Safety Star 

Three school districts and two individuals have been recognized through the 2020 PACE Awards.

“PACE Awards are a chance to thank our members for their hard work to ensure every student and every employee gets home safely every day,” said PACE Administrator Dave Harvey.

The Forest Grove School District was given the grand prize, the Safety Star Award, for reducing liability and accidents on school grounds through a new hazard review process. The award carries with it $5,000 from PACE to be used in a school safety improvement effort.

Other awards included:

Outstanding Individuals:

• Erika Pinkerton, superintendent of Enterprise School District, provided leadership in implementing a community-based safety and security needs assessment to be used during a future bond measure. The result was confidence to move forward with a bond to focus on campus security.

• Justin Benassi, Vernonia School District, transformed the high school shop program by teaching students to incorporate safety into their everyday lives. Unsafe or unusable equipment was removed from the shop, and with the help of a PACE Safety Grant, a second SawStop table saw was installed. In addition to improvements in the shop building classroom, procedures for students to use proper personal protective equipment were implemented.

Outstanding Programs:

• Wallowa School District overcame obstacles to technology safety, although the district is within a small and isolated community with limited technology access. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have continued to find ways to keep students safe and safeguard technology access and use.

• Grants Pass School District’s school marshal safety program is a partnership with Grants Pass Public Safety to increase the safety of students and staff by having officers at each school. This program has provided peace of mind to students and staff while reducing the district’s liability.