Six programs and two individuals were recognized Thursday during PACE Awards presentations. Debbie Laszlo, chair of the PACE Board of Trustees, presented the awards during the “PACE Day: Safe and Secure Schools” event in Salem.

The awards highlight significant contributions made in 2017 to the Property and Casualty Coverage for Education (PACE) program. PACE (pace.osba.org) is an insurance pool made up of roughly 300 Oregon member school districts, charter schools, education service districts (ESDs) and community colleges.

The Klamath County School District was recognized as the statewide Safety Star, selected from among all applicants. The award carries with it $5,000 from PACE to be used in a school safety improvement effort. Klamath won the award for its half-day active shooter drill. Over 500 people participated by acting as students in classrooms as more than 50 first responders fired blanks. The goal was to have staff experience an active shooter event so they could be better prepared for such a crisis.

Dave Harvey, PACE administrator, said Klamath County schools had exemplified PACE’s values by working together to keep students and staff safe.

“Nothing is more important to us than getting every child and every employee home safe, every day,” he said. “That requires a lot of planning from our members, and through the PACE Awards we can thank them for their hard work.”

Other awards included:

Outstanding programs – Clatskanie SD, which retrofitted all its lights to LED, saving money and reducing eye strain on students and staff; Seaside SD, for its monthly school safety contest for students, designed to reduce workers compensation claims; Springfield SD, for its risk evaluation of boiler and mechanical rooms, a continuous program that has identified and reduced safety hazards; Chemeketa CC, for its centralized Title IX compliance program, which assures compliance and standardizes practices; and InterMountain ESD, for its interest in door-locking systems.

Outstanding individuals – Tim Witcher, chief financial officer of the Clackamas ESD, for establishing a culture of caring, safety and wellness; and Michelle Brady, safety and emergency preparedness manager of the Hillsboro SD, for improved safety and compliance tracking and training.