Dear County and District Superintendents and Charter School Administrators:

2021 Classified School Employees of the Year Program

I would like to invite each County Office of Education (COE) to participate in the 2021 Classified School Employees of the Year (CSEY) Program. Presented by the California Department of Education (CDE), the California School Employees Association, and California Casualty, the CSEY Program highlights contributions of classified school employees who support the education of California’s more than six million public school students from preschool through grade twelve.

The 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.

With the implementation of the National Recognizing Inspiring School Employees (RISE) Award in 2020, CSEY Awardees are eligible to be nominated to become a National RISE recipient.

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), including charter schools, school districts, and county offices of education.
• 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 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 2021 CSEY Award must submit a completed 2021 CSEY Application (Online Survey) by Friday, April 16, 2021.

The 2021 CSEY Application (Online Survey) is available on the CDE CSEY web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cl.

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 selection committee evaluates the applications, and CSEY Awardees will be announced in May 2021 and recognized at an event during Classified School Employee Week, May 16–21, 2021.

You can find more information about the CSEY Program on the CDE CSEY web page at https://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/sr/cl/.

If you have any questions regarding the CSEY Program, please contact the Awards Team by phone at 916-319-0842 or by email at awards@cde.ca.gov.

Sincerely,

Tony Thurmond
State Superintendent of Public Instruction

TT:rc

cc: County Coordinators