Mendocino Complex causes some school start dates to change, necessitates cleanup work
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – School districts impacted by the Mendocino Complex are adjusting new school year start dates, cleaning facilities, and focusing on how to help assist students and staff.
Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg said this week that the school districts are working hard to make sure that facilities are ready for the starts of school, with student and staff safety the first concern.
Since it began on July 27, the Mendocino Complex resulted in mandatory evacuations taking place at various times for communities from Kelseyville and Lakeport all the way to Clearlake Oaks, and east to the Spring Valley Lakes and the Double Eagle Ranch subdivisions.
At one point, as many as 20,000 Lake County residents were reported to be evacuated from their homes for several days, authorities said.
Mandatory evacuations were lifted for Kelseyville on July 31 and for the city of Lakeport on Aug. 2, with much of the Northshore allowed to return home on Wednesday, while Spring Valley, High Valley and Double Eagle were reduced from mandatory status on Thursday, as Lake County News has reported.
Because of the fire, the resulting evacuations and sheltering efforts – with schools in Kelseyville, Lower Lake and Middletown used as evacuation shelters – Falkenberg said schools are contracting with experts to clean classrooms, parking lots, playgrounds, common areas and other areas of school campuses.
He said Konocti Unified plans to start school on Aug. 20, as does Middletown Unified, noting that was Middletown’s planned start date even before the fires.
Kelseyville Unified also hasn’t changed its date for the first day of school, which remains Sept. 4, Falkenberg said.
In addition, Falkenberg said the county’s community colleges are set to start on their originally planned dates: Aug. 13 for Woodland Community College and Aug. 20 for Mendocino College.
Falkenberg said schools in Lakeport will start on Aug. 22.
On the Northshore, districts pushed back their start dates by a week to allow for cleanup, according to district officials.
On Tuesday, the Upper Lake Unified School Board District held a special meeting in which it decided to delay school by a week, with a target date of Aug. 22, as Lake County News has reported.
Superintendent Dr. Giovanni Annous said the board also approved a resolution for emergency cleaning and mitigation of any complications due to the smoke and ash that have surrounded Upper Lake Unified’s facilities for the past two weeks.
On Wednesday, a district leadership team met with ServPro and Air & Water Sciences, visited all the school sites and conducted individual classroom assessments, according to Annous.
Annous said the district has contracted with ServPro to clean all district offices and mitigate air quality conditions on Friday, and to clean classrooms and campuses from Monday through Wednesday, beginning with Upper Lake Elementary. Air & Water Science will certify all the cleaning and will issue a report.
That will clear the way for office employees to report for work on Aug. 13, teachers and support staff to start on Aug. 20 and students to begin class on Aug. 22, he said.
Lucerne Elementary Principal/Superintendent Mike Brown told Lake County News that his district board also took action to postpone the start of school at a Wednesday meeting.
Like Upper Lake Unified, Lucerne Elementary is planning to start school on Aug. 22, Brown said.
“We currently have ATI and a crew of about 60 individuals giving the school an amazing cleaning,” he said.
ATI Restoration is a company that, like ServPro, specializes in cleanup and restoration projects.
“We hope to have air quality clearance by early next week to be able to bring staff back to prepare for the return of students,” Brown said.
Like Upper Lake, Lakeport Unified Superintendent April Leiferman also hired ServPro of Lake County to clean the district’s facilities in preparation for reopening, the company confirmed to Lake County News.
Due to the size of the job, ServPro said it anticipated hiring many temporary workers to finish the work.
Falkenberg said districts will have resources in place to support the physical, social and emotional needs of students as school begins again.
Anyone with questions should contact their specific school district for more information, Falkenberg said.
Phone numbers for district offices are as follows:
– Kelseyville Unified: 707-279-1511;
– Lakeport Unified: 707-262-3000;
– Lucerne Unified: 707-274-5578;
– Konocti Unified: 707-994-6475;
– Middletown Unified: 707-987-4100;
– Upper Lake Unified: 707-275-2655.
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