August 2021

Each August, I present an Annual Education Agenda to the Lake County Board of Education with agency goals for the upcoming school year. 

In August 2020, COVID-19 cases were low and there were great plans to reopen schools to in-person instruction across California and here in Lake County. The Annual Education Agenda was created based on the assumption that Lake County students would be back on campus during the 2020-21 school year for in-person instruction. 

However, reopening school campuses to in-person instruction was not that simple. The school year began for many students in distance learning. Then came the winter surge, and most counties in California were placed in the Purple Tier of the California Blueprint for a Safer Economy and had to adjust to all the restrictions that came with that.

Here at the Lake County Office of Education, our staff worked hard to address the Annual Education Agenda. However, meeting student, school, and district immediate needs during a global pandemic took priority. 

We have been shifting, pivoting, and dealing with difficult and unfamiliar situations every day of the 2020-21 school year. Yet we dug deep and have continued to support education in our community, to the best of our abilities during extremely difficult times. 

Last school year was not just about COVID-19. It was still about children, families, growth, learning, teaching, and serving. COVID-19 was just one more obstacle we overcame to address our core mission at the Lake County Office of Education.

I greatly appreciate the partnerships and collaboration of so many in the community.

Thank you to the Lake County Public Health Department. They have been exemplary in their support for schools and children through this entire pandemic. 

Thank you to our Lake County teachers and education staff, for their dedication and ability to adapt during this time of constant change.

Thank you to our Lake County parents for stepping up to assist your children in a way you haven’t had to before.

Thank you to our Lake County students, for staying engaged and keeping up with your studies.

We are a small county, but we are a strong county. Working together makes us even stronger.

Brock Falkenberg,
Lake County Superintendent of Schools