LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The superintendents of all of Lake County’s school districts are set to meet Sunday to discuss what measures should next be taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Health officials have so far not reported any confirmed cases of COVID-19 – the disease caused by novel coronavirus – in Lake County.

The Lake County Office of Education said County Superintendent of School Brock Falkenberg will meet with all district superintendents Sunday “to discuss potential county-wide solutions to school dismissals.”

The Office of Education said the hope is that an announcement will be made to Lake County families by 4 p.m. Sunday about the status of schools.

Falkenberg, the county’s six district superintendents and Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace have met or held regular conference calls over the past week to discuss what next steps to take, the Office of Education said.

Based on those meetings, district superintendents sent out update letters on Friday to parents outlining their next steps.

Districts reported that as of Monday, March 16, they were canceling nonessential events such as field trips, open houses, club and sporting events, professional development-related traveling and other gatherings until spring break in early April.

In its update, Kelseyville Unified cited advice from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that gives three reasons for school closure in response to school-based cases of COVID-19: Decontamination and contact tracing, in response to significant absenteeism of staff and students or as part of a larger community mitigation strategy where there is substantial community spread.

Based on that guidance and available modeling data, the district said that short-, medium- or long-term closures are not as effective as mitigation efforts such as hand-washing and home isolation for those at high risk.

Despite there being no local cases confirmed so far, temporary facility closures and some events in the community have been canceled, which has raised the question of whether local schools will follow the example of those in other areas and close down for the next few weeks in an effort to slow the virus’ spread.

With COVID-19 concerns in mind, Kelseyville resident Arnaud Hubert launched an online petition directed at local officials, asking them to close schools temporarily as a preventive measure.

Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.