Stockton Unified schools lost all internet access early Tuesday morning and the district’s phones were down part of the day due to possible illegal tampering with some fiber optics cables.
SUSD sent out an email in the morning letting parents know that they would need to call one of two backup landlines to contact either the district or its Department of Public Safety if need be.
District spokesperson Melinda Meza has since verified that the phone lines were back online, though there is still no internet access across school sites. She also said that the day’s classes and tonight’s governing board are continuing as scheduled.
“We’re using … hotspots, mobile internet,” Meza told Stocktonia Tuesday afternoon.
Public Safety spokesperson Angie Andrews says they are still investigating the cause of the outage. Investigators believe the connectivity issues are a result of possible copper theft, she told Stocktonia, noting that it has been a problem in many areas, including other parts of Stockton and Sacramento.
“We don’t know if its affiliated with the same individuals,” Andrews said, explaining that a bundle of wires had been cut. “We just know that it affected every single school site today.”
Repairs are currently in the works and the goal is to have the district’s systems fully up and running either by the end of Tuesday or Wednesday at the latest, Andrews said. She also noted that the SUSD community has come together in facing the day’s technological obstacles.
“The kids are awesome today, can’t complain about them, and parents and staff have been super helpful and cooperative,” Andrews said. “This is an unfortunate situation but were making the best out of it and working together.”
The SUSD Board of Education will meet at its regularly scheduled time Tuesday afternoon, Meza said, though there may be complications with live streaming if the district’s internet is not up and running by 4 p.m.
However, she says the district will still be recording the meeting.
“People are invited to come to the board meeting. If the live stream does not work, we will definitely have a recording on our website by tomorrow morning,” Meza said. “We want to be as transparent as possible, and we want the community to feel as invited as possible.”
