LAKE COUNTY ? Dave Geck, the current Lake County Superintendent of Schools has announced that he will not seek reelection for a second term. He has worked over 34 years in education; the last 30 years have been in Lake County.
He has worked as a high school counselor, principal, program director, assistant superintendent and county superintendent. He has decided he will not seek reelection in 2010 and will retire at the end of his current term.
Geck currently serves on the Lake County Special Education Local Planning Area Governing Council, the Lake County First 5 Commission, is the North Coast Representative to the California County Superintendents Educational Association Board of Directors, is a member of the State Pre-K Task Force, is a member of the Lake One Stop Inc. Board of Directors, is on the Board of the Friends of the Lake County Museum and is a member of the Mendocino College Foundation Board of Directors.
“After much deliberation and discussion with my family and with my best friend and wife of over 40 years I have decided that after my term ends next year I will retire to spend more time with my family especially, my grandchildren. Time passes much too quickly and I don”t want to miss the opportunity to be a part of their lives.
It has been a privilege to serve the students and parents of Lake County. I am very grateful for the unfailing support of the members of the Lake County Board of Education and I want to sincerely thank the dedicated staff at the Lake County Office of Education for never losing sight of our mission to ??..support our schools and communities by planning, coordinating, facilitating and delivering exemplary services and educational programs.”
Together we have faced unprecedented challenges in providing schools in Lake County with the support they have needed in light of the severe budget reductions that the state has made over the last two years. I am proud, that in spite of those challenges, we expanded direct support to districts by training teachers to be strategic in their lesson planning, in order to better serve all students with particular emphasis on the increasing numbers of English Learners. We expanded career training opportunities for students adding a career pathway in Health Sciences. We increased the number of students served by our College Going Initiative resulting in an increased number of students that were accepted to colleges and universities. We made access to high quality preschool a priority and where possible we have provided preschools to our school districts.
It has been humbling to see day in, day out people saying yes to going above and beyond what is expected. That is what I will miss most when I leave office next year. I will miss working with the people in our programs and with the people in our schools that make supporting students their top priority.
I am also proud of the strong relationships we have built with our school districts. Together as strong partners we will continue to make a difference in the lives of students and families in Lake County.
I am excited about my final year as County Superintendent. I look forward to working closely with the staff at the Lake County Office of Education and the schools and districts in Lake County as we continue to make the support of student learning our top priority.
In making this announcement I want to thank the citizens of Lake County for giving me the opportunity to serve as their County Superintendent of Schools.
Our students are depending on us to stay focused on helping them succeed. We can”t forget that they are our future.”
