- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
Lake County Office of Education preschool student tests positive for COVID-19
In a letter to staff and the community, Kelseyville Unified Superintendent Dave McQueen said his district was informed that a preschool student in the Lake County Office of Education preschool, which is located at Kelseyville Elementary School, tested positive for the virus.
“Although this program is located on the Kelseyville Elementary School campus, it is not administered by KVUSD. No staff from KVUSD were in contact with this student,” McQueen said.
Separately, Lake County Superintendent of Schools Brock Falkenberg said in a message posted to the Lake County Office of Education website on Thursday that his office sent a letter to the parents and guardians of the facility – which he didn’t identify – notifying them that a student had tested positive.
“The preschool cohort will be closed for 14 days after the last date of known exposure to give those who had exposure, a chance to quarantine. The physical building will be closed for the remainder of this week for deep cleaning and disinfecting,” Falkenberg said.
Falkenberg said the student in question has no symptoms.
“We will continue to work with our public health department, and partner agencies in addressing COVID-19 issues as they arise within our LCOE programs,” Falkenberg said.
The Office of Education operates eight preschool sites around the county.
Its preschools give enrollment priority to 4-year-olds, followed by 3-year-olds. If room is available, 5-year-olds who are not age eligible for kindergarten can be accepted.
Falkenberg said his agency chose to open the doors to its preschools based on the current data that suggests that younger children are at less risk of severe illness from COVID-19, as well as other factors like the county’s caseload status, and the Office of Education’s ability to meet all local and state guidelines.
Based on demographics released earlier this week, Lake County Public Health said that 40 local children from birth to age 12 have tested positive for COVID-19, accounting for less than 10 percent of the county’s cases to date. That youngest age group has the fewest cases in the county to date.
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