LCSD Response/Support for Willow Fire

DISCLAIMER: Any information in this communication is subject to rapid change. 🙂

7.17.26

Dear LCSD Staff:

Hello again! I hope that the past week has brought you some respite and maybe even a little return to normalcy. For our staff members who are still evacuated, we understand normal must feel like it is still a ways off. We continue to think of you and your families.

The various first responders and leaders who have been managing the response to the Willow Fire have been doing an amazing job. We are invited to daily briefings for cooperating agencies, and have a standing check in with the Sheriff, County and Office of Emergency Management. Through these connections, we have been able to stay apprised of progress on the fire. We have also continued to provide whatever support we can, such as providing the auditorium for community meetings and walk-in space for food for Outward Bound and HMI.

We have also started to look ahead to the start of school in close collaboration with our safety partners. At this time, we all share cautious optimism that we will be able to start school on time and without major disruptions to our operations. Of course, this could change at any time if there were to be major changes in the fire management conditions.

Even with an on time, “normal” start, there will be things we are attending to, such as mental health needs students might bring, and systems for monitoring and responding to air quality.

Amidst the distractions of the fire, I have still found time to get very excited about the year ahead. You can view the schedule for returning to school here.

I can’t wait to see everyone in a few short weeks!

Cheers,

Kate

7.5.26

Dear LCSD Staff:

We understand that recent expansions of evacuation and pre-evacuation zones related to the Willow Fire are causing additional anxiety and worry for our community above what we were already experiencing. We wanted to write today to update you on our planning and to convey our support for staff and families who may be impacted.

Today’s evacuation order for Lake Fork and other neighborhoods in the western half of the county significantly increased the number of LCSD staff and families who are displaced from their homes, in addition to those who were evacuated early on and have been living with uncertainty ever since. There are obviously many resources available to families in need of help; the Lake County Office of Emergency Management Facebook page is an excellent resource. 

LCSD Planning

District staff are in communication with each other and responding agencies as we work through numerous logistics. There are several things we are thinking about as we plan for the days ahead, specifically:

Human Resources

• Year-round staff: Year-round staff who are impacted by an evacuation order, and who are expected at work this week, should reach out to their direct supervisor or Kathleen for information and support.

Facilities

• Preparing our buildings: Jim and Tim are leading efforts to make sure that our buildings are ready should evacuation or pre-evacuation lines change. They are also working on preserving critical district assets.

School Operations

• Rockies Rock: The County has canceled the first week of Rockies Rock, which was slated to take place at LCIS starting tomorrow, July 6. They will be making decisions on a week by week basis for future programming.
• Registration: 2026-27 student registration is slated to open online on Tuesday, July 7. We plan to stay on this timeline for the moment. 
• Start of school: It is too soon to say whether the fire and response to it will have any impact on our start of school. This will be a “no news is good news” situation, with no news indicating that we are on track for opening as planned.

Sometimes I tell people that the LCSD team has walked through fire together. That analogy certainly seems very apt right now. We are stronger together and I know we will get to the other side, for our students, families and our community.

Please stay safe,

Kate

6.30.26

Dear LCSD Staff:

Happy Tuesday. As we indicated yesterday, our community is obviously in the midst of a very dynamic set of conditions and circumstances. 

Today’s big update is that the federal incident management team decided last night, after we sent our email, NOT to stage Incident Command for the fire at LCES. In order to leverage resources outside of Lake County, they have opted to stage in Buena Vista instead. 

This means there are currently no planned impacts at LCES. We apologize for the whipsaw here. That is just the world we are operating in at the moment!

It is possible that there will be other pertinent updates for LCSD staff, and even potential future requests for uses of space. We will keep you informed.

Thank you!

6.29.26

Dear LCSD Staff:

I hope this finds you and your family safe. We are aware that the evacuation and pre-evacuation notices for the Willow Fire on Mt. Massive are impacting some staff members as well as district family members. Our thoughts are with all who are impacted, as well as the first responders who are deep in the response.

I am writing with an important update about LCSD’s role in that response. Today, Sheriff Speckman asked to use LCES to host Incident Command (IC) for the fire. This means that, starting tonight, the school will become the site of major coordinated operations to manage and respond to the fire. Outside, you will see everything from tents and showers for firefighters, to trucks and a mobile kitchen. Inside, the IC team will use some rooms to set up functions such as finance, planning and even HR. There may be up to 150 temporary staff on site.

The expert’s best guess is that the IC team will be onsite for two weeks, however the exact timeline is dependent entirely on the weather, the behavior of the fire and the ability of support resources to address its containment. 

If you are not an LCSD staff member based at LCES for 2026-27, there should be no impact on you beyond impacts all community members will feel, such as giving the site a wide berth. The IC team is likely to close certain areas, such as LCES playgrounds, to the public.

If you are an LCES staff member, please see specific notes below.

I want to thank Bunny for being our lead point of contact for the IC team, and to Jim for leading our operational response. The movers literally finished (hooray!) 30 minutes before we began planning for this next chapter in our summer of 2026 memoir. We very much appreciate your grace and patience as we navigate a long list of logistics. 

Despite the complexity, we are honored and humbled to be serving our community in this way.

Cheers,

Kate

Specific Notes for LCES Staff:

• Barring a major escalation or increase in fire activity (which we cannot predict, of course), there should be no change to the original plan to have staff come in for two optional paid unpacking days on July 29, 30 and/or 31.
• We had originally communicated that LCES staff would be able to come into the school on their own time starting on July 6th. This timeline is now somewhat adjusted for some staff.
  • Category 1: The following spaces will still be accessible starting July 6th:
    • Classrooms on the east end of the school (former Kinder and preschool pods)
    • The east SPED suite
    • All offices and rooms in the admin suite
    • The gym
    • The new ELD room
    • The Literacy Specialist’s office
    • The AP – Behavior’s office
  • Category 2: The following spaces will be accessible as soon after July 13th as the fire allows, and ideally no later than July 20th:
    • Classrooms on the west end of the school (former 1st and 2nd grade pods)
    • Classrooms in the library (please touch base with Jim before coming in, to check on status of maintenance projects such as installing TVs and coat hooks)
    • The art room
    • The music room
    • The west SPED suite
• Members of the IC team will be utilizing the spaces listed in Category 2 on a “light touch” basis. This means that they may move packed items now staged in those classrooms to the edge of the room, set up a few tables and work in the space during daytime hours. They will break all of this down and put the rooms back as they are right now before they depart.
• The IC team will also be using the cafeteria, the staff lounge and some bathrooms during their operation.
• Nobody will be sleeping inside the school.
• Custodial staff will be attending to all spaces on a regular basis.
• As long as the IC is operational, parking for LCES Staff is only available in the east/upper parking lot.
• There is currently no change to the original timeline of having new furniture delivered and assembled by the end of the day on July 24th.
• If you have questions, please contact Bunny first, then Kate or Jim.

Thank you so much for your patience and flexibility and helping us support our community during this difficult time.