Vista, San Luis earn top safety committee awards
YUMA, Ariz. (KYMA, KECY) - Vista High School and San Luis High School received the top “safety committee” awards of $10,000 on Wednesday during Yuma Union High School District’s Governing Board meeting.
YUHSD spoke that it is the fourth year in a row that Vista has earned the highest award. They earned the most outright in 2020 and shared the top spot with Kofa High School in 2019 and with Gila Ridge High School in 2021. Gila Ridge and San Luis have also been past winners. The $10,000 total matches the largest amount for a single school, since the safety committee awards began in the 2015-16 school year.
On Wednesday, YUHSD Director of Finance Anthony Herrera distributed checks from Board-approved insurance proceeds to the safety committee for each of the six schools in the district. In order to be eligible for the funds, the campuses fulfilled several requirements for the 2021-22 school year.
Each school is required to have a safety committee that meets quarterly and conducts inspections twice per school year. During those meetings and inspections, each committee is looking for building and equipment hazards and safety concerns such as damage to crosswalks and signage. They also monitor injuries on their campus throughout the school year.
VHS Principal Brett Surguine and SLHS Principal Rob Jankowski were presented prop checks in the amount of $10,000 for their schools incurring the fewest safety hazards and injuries on campus in 2021-22.
Other safety committee awards included: Yuma High School ($7,000), Kofa High School ($6,000), Cibola High School ($5,700), and Gila Ridge High School ($5,400). Herrera and YUHSD Governing Board President Phil Townsend presented oversized checks to a representative from each campus administrative team.
The committees at each campus will now choose three proposals for how to spend the funds, and allow students and faculty to vote on which proposal to approve for improving their respective campuses.
