The San Diego County Office of Education received the FBI's top community award for its work protecting school networks and training students in cybersecurity.

FBI San Diego Special Agent in Charge Mark Remily presented the 2025 Director's Community Leadership Award (DCLA) at the September County Board of Education meeting, according to an SDCOE news release. SDCOE Assistant Superintendent and Chief Information Officer Terry Loftus and members of the Integrated Technology Services staff accepted the honor.

The award carries local weight. SDCOE provides support services to about 480,000 students across 42 school districts countywide, including Carlsbad Unified.

The FBI has given the DCLA since 1990 to groups working on crime and violence prevention. Each field office selects one recipient per year. The San Diego office called this its 18th local presentation of the award.

The bureau specifically cited SDCOE for establishing a Security Operations Center, developing a phishing simulation and training platform, and creating cybersecurity training programs for students and staff. The FBI also noted SDCOE's cybersecurity team won the 2025 Cybersecurity Stewardship Award for Organization of the Year from the San Diego Business Journal and San Diego Cyber Center of Excellence.

"The team from our local FBI Field Office always answers our call and they have long been a source of positive support and partnership," Loftus said in the release.

In 2022, SDCOE partnered with the San Diego InfraGard Members Alliance and the U.S. Cyber Initiative to strengthen its programs. FBI San Diego Cyber Squad agents now participate in SDCOE's annual Cybersecurity Bootcamp, a weeklong session that teaches threat detection and digital defense.

SDCOE directly educates about 1,800 students at 21 sites each year. Dr. Gloria E. Ciriza, SDCOE superintendent of schools, was present at the September board meeting where the award was accepted. No statement from Carlsbad Unified on the award was available as of Sept. 29.

Danny Pasawongse, SDCOE's executive director of technology and infrastructure operations, said in the release that FBI agents spend time at the bootcamps sharing career journeys and answering questions students would not encounter in a traditional classroom. The bootcamp introduces underserved student groups to cybersecurity careers, with interactions that help make those paths "feel real, attainable, and within reach."