Candidates for the Classified School Employee of the Year award compete in the California Department of Education (CDE) state program as nominees of county offices of education. The CDE provides the county offices of education with the guidelines for submitting applications along with the evaluation and selection criteria that will be used to select awardees at the state level. Each county office of education has the responsibility to identify their nominees through a local selection process as it deems appropriate.
The State Superintendent of Public Instruction or his designee will select the Classified School Employees of the Year from statewide finalists identified through a state-level review process. There will be one honoree in each of the following six categories:
- Child Nutrition
- Maintenance and Operations
- Transportation
- Para-Educator
- Office and Technical Services
- Support Services and Security
