4 area school employees are finalists for state honors

Two employees from the Newport-Mesa Unified School District and two from the Ocean View School District are competing to be among the state Classified School Employees of the Year.

The California Department of Education is scheduled to announce the winners this month and honor them with a luncheon in Sacramento during Classified School Employee Week from May 15 to 19.

Clare Shweyk and Alicia Helm from Ocean View and Karen Allison and Ilse Taborga of Newport-Mesa are among the finalists.

Shweyk is the library specialist at Hope View Elementary School in Huntington Beach and has been with the Ocean View district for 11 years.

Helm has worked for Ocean View for 26 years and is currently a bus driver.

Allison has worked for Newport-Mesa for 12 years and is currently in charge of the cafeteria at Adams Elementary School in Costa Mesa.

Taborga has worked as a school community facilitator for 14 years, serving as a liaison between families and the school district and schools. She is currently at Adams Elementary and at Ensign Intermediate School in Newport Beach.

Nominees must be rank-and-file classified (non-faculty) employees in a California public school with at least five years’ service in one of the six nomination categories: child nutrition; office and technical; maintenance, operations and facilities; transportation; support services and security; and para-educator and instructional assistance.

The nominations, made with school district help, are submitted by county offices of education for state consideration.

Priscella.Vega@latimes.com

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