COVID-19 forces school closures
LAKE COUNTY >> COVID-19 continues to take its toll on schools in the county. Only a few days after Mountain Vista Middle School in Kelseyville returned to on-campus learning, the Lakeport Unified School District suspended in-school instruction and will implement remote learning for a week, from Jan. 14 through Jan. 25, 2022, due to a staffing shortage, according to District Superintendent Matt Bullard in his posting on the LUSD website. LUSD consists of Clear Lake High School, Lakeport Elementary School, Terrace Middle School and Lakeport Alternative Education Center. LUSD students were informed earlier in the week not to show up in school next week and were advised to bring some schoolwork home. The homework would consist of independent work that will prepare the students for the remote classes scheduled from Tuesday, January 18, the day after the Martin Luther King holiday, through the following Monday.
A chart included as part of the Web posting shows that in the first semester, the district had a total of 16 positive COVID-19 cases among staff members and 62 among students compared with 23 cases among staff members and 55 among students in the first two weeks of January 2022.
“We are experiencing a significant increase in COVID-19 spread throughout our community and region,” Bullard’s message said. “This surge in virus activity is creating significant challenges that all families and staff need to be aware of. The presence of COVID-19 on campus and in our community has increased dramatically. The increase in cases is directly impacting the district’s ability to provide required staffing levels to operate some school functions… We do not have a sufficient number of healthy staff members to operate our system as required.”
As part of its safety protocol, LUSD will of-
fer a free rapid testing clinic on Monday, January 24, in preparation for returning to in-person learning. Bullard noted, “It is our hope that all students and staff who plan to return to campus for inperson learning on Tuesday, January 25, will participate in this testing clinic… We are hopeful that the break from in-person learning will slow the spread of COVID-19 and allow all students and staff an opportunity to return to campus healthy… We remain committed to in-person learning and want to keep our schools and classrooms open for instruction.
We need everyone’s assistance with reporting cases in a timely manner and staying home if you are not feeling well in order to keep LUSD open.”
Bullard’s message also included this request: “During this temporary move to remote learning, please help limit the spread of COVID-19 in our community. Everyone can limit the spread of COVID-19 by implementing good handwashing practices, wearing a well-fitted mask, testing for COVID-19 when you experience an exposure and staying home if you do not feel well or experience COVID-19 symptoms (sore throat, runny nose, cough, headache, etc.)
In addition, a second school in Kelseyville also has suspended in-person instruction due to COVID-19 exposure. Kelseyville Elementary School (KES) is closed to on-campus learning and stopped bus transportation until Tuesday, January 18, as a result of staff shortage, according to a brief Kelseyville Unified School District Web notification. KES students have been placed on an independent study program until the school reopens next week. No other details were provided on the school website or district website.
“There is no effort in place to look at countywide closure of schools,” Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg said, in an email. “Lake County school districts are working diligently to keep kids in classrooms. Our teachers know that, for most students, inperson instruction is the best option. In addition to providing education, schools also support socialization, nutrition and play opportunities for our children. Study after study indicates that schools can function safely, and Lake County schools have implemented multiple layers of protection. Decisions to transition to independent study are not taken lightly. It is the last resort decision. Any school decision to move to remote learning will be as focused as possible. I trust our local school boards will limit any school closure decisions with the intent of keeping as many kids engaged in classroom instruction as possible.”