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California Department of Education
Official Letter
California Department of Education
Official Letter
November 5, 2025

Dear County and District Superintendents, Charter School Administrators, and Past State Seal of Civic Engagement Participants:

2025–26 State Seal of Civic Engagement Updates and Insignia Request Procedures

The California Department of Education (CDE) Professional Learning Support Division is excited to announce that the 2025–26 State Seal of Civic Engagement (SSCE) insignia request form is now available from the CDE SSCE web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ci/pl/hssstateseal.asp.

State Seal of Civic Engagement Overview

On September 10, 2020, the California State Board of Education (SBE) adopted statewide criteria and guidance for awarding the SSCE to California students who demonstrate:

  • Excellence in civics education and participation, and
  • An understanding of the United States Constitution, the California Constitution, and the democratic system of government.

Participating local educational agencies (LEAs) may award the SSCE to eligible public-school students in grades ten, eleven, or twelve, who fulfill all five statewide SSCE criteria along with any locally established criteria and requirements.

Procedures for Requesting Seals

Participating LEAs must request insignias using the online 2025–26 Insignia Request Form. Use this form for:

  • Initial insignia requests,
  • Corrected insignia requests, and
  • Additional insignia requests for the 2025–26 school year.

For corrections to insignia requests from prior years, please email the SSCE team at SSCE@cde.ca.gov.

Insignia Limits and Eligible Documents

Each eligible student may receive one gold-embossed insignia, affixed one time in grade ten, eleven, or twelve. Eligible documents include:

  • High school diplomas
  • Alternative high school diplomas (as defined in Education Code (EC) Section 51225.31)
  • General Educational Development diplomas
  • Certificates of Completion (as defined in EC Section 56390)
  • Grade ten, eleven, or twelve transcripts

A separate black-and-white version of the insignia is not provided for the SSCE. LEAs may choose to offer additional local forms of recognition, such as certificates or awards,

Timing

There is no deadline to submit the request form. However, LEAs should submit requests far enough in advance of the first graduation ceremony to allow time for CDE processing and for LEA/school staff to affix insignias to eligible documents. As a general guideline, insignias can be expected within approximately four weeks from the date the CDE receives a complete request.

Resources

Additional information is available from the following web pages:

Incorporation of the State Seal of Civic Engagement into the College/Career Indicator

During the 2023–24 and 2024–25 school years, the CDE collected student-level data on SSCE earners to inform potential inclusion of civic engagement within the College/Career Indicator on the California School Dashboard. This data collection was conducted via a new Education Data Collection System (EDCS) administered by the California Longitudinal Pupil Achievement Data System (CALPADS) Office. LEAs that requested SSCE insignias during those years were asked to submit the individual students who earned the SSCE to this separate tool.

Please note:

  • Data is not being collected in CALPADS at this time.
  • The EDCS process is separate from the SSCE insignia request process.

For more about this project, please see the following web pages:

For questions related to the SSCE, please contact Sarah Smith, Education Programs Consultant, Building Educational Success Together Branch/Professional Learning Support Division, by phone at 916-323-6440 or by email at SSCE@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

William McGee, Deputy Superintendent

Building Educational Success Together Branch

WM:ss

Last Reviewed: Thursday, November 13, 2025

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