Schools

Castro Valley School District Recognizes County's Classified Employees of the Year

Out of the six awards given by the county each year, four went to Castro Valley Unified School District employees.

Six employees were recognized as Alameda County Classified Employees of the Year for their outstanding efforts and contributions to the district and its students.

During Thursday's school board meeting, board members presented the following awards to four recipients: Darci Cooper, child nutrition; Tim DeForest, maintenance, operations and facilities; Tracey Vierra, transportation; Karen Sakamoto, library instructional assistant.

Cooper works at cafeteria, providing around 285 nutritional snacks, breakfasts and lunches to students every day. DeForest is the lead custodian in the district and is a motivational advocate for recycling and composting with a "let's get it done attitude". Sakamoto works at both the and libraries. She's brought thousands of dollars to the libraries through fundraising and grants. And Vierra is the district's bus driver with the best driving record in her department. 

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The four underwent a review process by the Alameda County Office of Education before receiving their awards. Assistant Superintendent Sherri Beetz said the district couldn't be prouder that out of the six awards given each year by the county, four went to its employees.

"That says a lot about this district and the people who work in it," she said.

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The awardees will now have a chance to be recognized by the entire state as classified employees of the year. The California Department of Education is in the process of reviewing these applicants for potentially receiving one of six awards for Classified Employee of the Year on the state level. Decisions will be released by the end of this month and the awards will be presented on May 24.

The annual program honors six outstanding classified school employees, each representing one of the following categories: child nutrition, maintenance and operations, office and technical support, para-educator and instructional assistance, support services and security, and transportation.

At the state level, applications are reviewed by a team of job category experts, including at least one member representing local educational agency administration, one member representing employee groups, and one member provided by the California Department of Education (CDE) who reviewed the candidates on the basis of at least five years of service in their nomination category. The candidate evaluation was organized around four themes: work performance, school/community involvement, leadership and commitment, and service above and beyond.

The California Classified School Employee of the Year Award is sponsored by the CDE in partnership with the California School Employees Association, Service Employees International Union, California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, Association of California School Administrators, California School Boards Association, and business and industry organizations.


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