Dear County and District Superintendents, Charter School Administrators, and School Principals:

2025 Classified School Employees of the Year Program

I would like to invite each County Office of Education (COE) to participate in the 2025 Classified School Employees of the Year (CSEY) Program. The CSEY Program highlights the contributions of classified school employees, who support the education of nearly six million California public school students from preschool through grade twelve.

The California Department of Education (CDE) encourages participation in the CSEY Program by all counties. The program goals are to identify and honor exemplary classified school employees throughout California in the following nine occupational specialties: paraprofessional, clerical and administrative services, transportation services, food and nutrition services, custodial and maintenance services, security services, health and student services, technical services, and skilled trades.

CSEY awardees are eligible to be nominated for the National Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Education.

Eligibility Criteria

To be eligible for the CSEY Program, applicants must:

• Be a current classified employee of a California public school (preschool through grade twelve), which includes charter schools, school districts, and COEs.
• Be named a finalist in their local county competition.
• Be a rank-and-file employee not in a management or supervisory position.
• Have a minimum of five years of service in the nomination category with no minimum full-time equivalent.

Application

COEs must work with their CSEY County Coordinator to submit applications. Applications will only be accepted from CSEY County Coordinators. COEs that would like to submit a nominee for the 2025 CSEY Award must submit a completed 2025 CSEY Application.

The 2025 CSEY Application (online survey) and more information are available on the CDE CSEY web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cl. Applications are due on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, at 4 p.m.

Selection Process

COEs identify their nominees through a local selection process determined by that COE. The CDE encourages COEs to collaborate with employee organizations and school districts in the local selection process.

Each COE is encouraged to submit at least one nominee in each of the nine occupational specialties for consideration by the CDE selection committee. The CDE will announce the 2025 CSEY Awardees in late April, followed by a recognition luncheon during Classified School Employees Week during the third week of May in Sacramento.

If you have any questions regarding the CSEY Program, please contact the Awards Team at awards@cde.ca.gov.

To view last year’s outstanding CSEY recipients, please see the CDE news release at https://www.cde.ca.gov/nr/ne/yr24/yr24rel24a.asp.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond
State Superintendent of Public Instruction

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cc:       County Coordinators