The Philomath School District’s new phone system was installed over the winter break, Superintendent of Schools Susan Halliday told the School Board last week.
Halliday said handsets at all locations were replaced and the district’s technology staff spent considerable time checking that the system was operating properly. The process included performing a 911 check from each handset to ensure connection.
“It was a huge undertaking to be able to do that,” Halliday said. “To have that all moved and taken care of in two weeks was quite amazing.”
Halliday did mention that on the first day back from the break, there was an issue.
“The fact that lines weren’t recognized on Monday morning (Jan. 6) for a short period of time was a little bit of a struggle but they got that back up and running,” Halliday said.
The phone system replacement was tagged as a priority last year by the school district’s technology director. Halliday said the cost of the switchover ended up at $30,000. There will be an annual expense of $5,000 for licensing.
Elsewhere in the district, the facilities staff repaired an underground water leakage at Philomath Elementary School. The repairs were completed prior to the Jan. 6 return to classes.