The CSBA Golden Gavel Awards are awarded to both an individual board member and a governance team who exemplify best practices in effective governance and boardsmanship.
- Each nominee must be a current California public school board member from a district or county office of education
- The nominee’s Local Education Agency (LEA) must be a current CSBA member at all times during the nomination and award process
- Current CSBA Officers and Directors are not eligible to apply
- Each LEA can nominate only one individual from a board for the award per year
- Former Board Members of the Year are not eligible to apply again
- Self-nominations are not accepted
Nominees may be subject to disqualification at any time during the nomination submission or judging process for the following reasons:
- Nominee is or has been the subject of an internal or external investigation conducted by or on behalf of a CSBA committee.
- Nominee is or has been the subject of a local jurisdiction investigation.
In addition, Board Members of the Year who are found, during the year of designation, to be in violation of the attributes of this award will be disqualified and removed from the Hall of Fame.
In furtherance of these objectives, CSBA, in its discretion, may revoke any nominee’s application or Board Member of the Year title.
The nomination narrative should address significant contributions made by the nominee within the last five years, with an emphasis of work accomplished within the last twelve months of service. Nominations will be judged on the information provided by the nominator in the Nomination Entry form.
The criteria below identify attributes of an effective individual trustee as outlined in the CSBA Professional Governance Standards for School Board Members, which is available at this link, from districts and county offices of education.
Nominees will be judged on their ability to:
- Understand their role and follow through on their responsibilities
- Focus on learning and achievement for all students
- Value, support and advocate for public education
- Participate in local, CSBA, state and/or national education activities
- Support the board’s adopted Bylaws and Policies
- Recognize and respect differences of perspectives and style on the board and among staff, students, parents and the community
- Act with dignity, and understand the implications of demeanor and behavior
- Adhere to established communication protocols and keep confidential matters confidential
- Participate in CSBA professional development, such as Masters in Governance, and commit to ongoing education to be an informed and effective leader
- Understand the distinctions between board and staff roles, and refrain from performing management functions that are the responsibility of the superintendent and staff
- Understand that authority rests with the board as a whole and not with individuals
- An LEA can submit one (1) nomination per year
- Nomination materials must have approval by a majority of Board members
- Nomination materials are submitted through the CSBA online system
- Nomination materials must have the following three signatures: the nominator, the Board President or Vice-President, and the Superintendent
- Nomination materials must be complete and include all required documentation to be considered; incomplete nominations will not be judged
- Nomination materials must be submitted by the published deadline. Late submissions will not be accepted
- Nominations will be judged on the information provided by the nominator in the Nomination Entry.
- Each CSBA region will have a Regional Judge panel identify the top two nominations from the respective region (for a maximum of 21 nominations statewide)
- Regional nominations (for a maximum of 21) will be submitted to CSBA for a second round of scoring, to be judged by the Statewide Award Panel which will select the Board Member of the Year
- The Board Member of the Year, will be notified by CSBA of the award and will receive the Golden Gavel Award and be inducted into the Golden Gavel Hall of Fame
CSBA reserves the right to bypass the regional judging and proceed straight to the state-wide judging process based on the number of applications received.
Submitted applications which do not meet award eligibility criteria, will not be forwarded for judging.
- A Governance Team is defined as the governance leaders of the District or County Office of Education and incudes elected or appointed school board members and the superintendent
- Applicants must be current CSBA members at all times during the application and award process.
- Former Governance Team of the Year winners are not eligible to apply again
Governance Teams may be subject to disqualification at any time during the nomination submission or judging process for the following reasons:
- Any member of the team is or has been the subject of an internal or external investigation conducted by or on behalf of a CSBA committee.
- Any member of the team is or has been the subject of a local jurisdiction investigation.
In addition, Governance Teams of the Year who are found, during the year of designation, to be in violation of the attributes of this award will be disqualified and removed from the Hall of Fame. In furtherance of these objectives, CSBA, in its discretion, may revoke any application or Governance Team of the Year title.
The application narrative should address significant contributions made by the applicant team within the last twelve months to twenty-four months, which may represent a culmination of efforts begun prior to twenty-four months. Applications will be judged on the information provided in the Entry Form.
The criteria below identifies attributes of an effective governance team as outlined in the CSBA Professional Governance Standards for School Boards, which is available at this link, for districts and county offices of education.
Governance teams will be judged on their ability to:
Focus on learning and achievement for all students.
- Maintain accountability for student learning by adopting the district/coe curriculum and monitoring student progress.
- Ensure that a safe and appropriate educational environment is provided to all students.
Communicate a common vision.
- Involve the community, parents, students and staff in developing a common vision for the district/coe focused on learning and achievement and be responsive to the needs of all students.
- Provide community leadership on educational issues and advocate on behalf of students and public education at the local, state and federal levels.
Govern Effectively.
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- Operate openly, with trust and integrity.
- Govern in a dignified and professional manner, treating everyone with civility and respect.
- Take collective responsibility for the board’s performance.
- Recognize and respect differences of perspectives and style on the board and among staff, students, parents and the community.
- Ensure opportunities for the diverse range of views in the community to inform board deliberations.
- Maintain a successful on-boarding process for new governance team members to ensure board commitments are met.
Govern within board-adopted policies and procedures.
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- Update, adopt, and implement policies consistent with the law and the district/COE’s vision and goals.
- Evaluates its own effectiveness.
Adopt a qualified budget based on the district’s/ coe’s vision and goals, and regularly monitor the fiscal health of the LEA. (From CSBA Board Governance Standards)
Apply an equity lens to guide decision making.
Adopt responsible bargaining agreements.
Participate in CSBA professional development and commit to ongoing education to be an informed and effective team.
- Application materials are submitted through the CSBA online system.
- Application materials must have Governance Team approval.
- Application materials must be complete and include all required documentation to be considered; incomplete applications will not be judged.
- Application materials must be submitted by the published deadline. Late submissions will not be accepted.
- Applications will be judged on the information provided in the Entry Form.
- Each CSBA region will have a Regional Judge panel identify the top two applications from the respective region (for a maximum of 21 nominations statewide)
- Regional nominations (for a maximum of 21) will be submitted to CSBA for a second round of scoring, to be judged by the Statewide Award Panel which will select the Governance Team of the Year
- Site validators will visit the top Governance Team to view a Board Meeting. Site validator will verify that the information submitted in the application is consistent with what is being practiced.
- The Governance Team of the Year will be notified by CSBA of the award and will receive the Golden Gavel Award and be inducted into the Golden Gavel Hall of Fame.
CSBA reserves the right to bypass the regional judging and proceed straight to the state-wide judging process based on the number of applications received.
- The Board Member of the Year and Governance Team of the Year winners will be recognized and presented with an award at CSBA’s Annual Education Conference (AEC).
- The Board Member of the Year and Governance Team of the Year winners will be featured in the CSBA California Schools magazine, the monthly California School News publication, the CSBA website and CSBA social media.
- The Board Member of the Year and Governance Team of the Year winners may be asked to participate in speaking engagements throughout the state at the request of the Regional Directors or CSBA.
- Golden Gavel Hall of Fame inductees are eligible to score nomination materials at the statewide level.