Calabasas : School District Calls for Updated Phones

No one knows better than Claudia Schwartz about the shortfalls of the telephone system that serves the Las Virgenes Unified School District. As the district’s switchboard operator, she hears all the complaints.

The antiquated system can barely handle the 200 or so calls that Schwartz fields each day, officials say. Because there is no voice mail, dozens of calls come back to her desk, where Schwartz says she scribbles handwritten messages--often while other callers are on hold.

Bottlenecks result, and some callers become irate or get disconnected, officials say.

“Then they have to call me back and start all over again,” said Schwartz, who has worked the switchboard since 1984, when the system was installed. “They say, ‘Please don’t let me go this time.’ ”

Schwartz and many others may get relief this summer when a new state-of-the-art system is slated to be installed. The $110,000 system, which has been put out to bid, will link the district office with Calabasas High School and Lindero Canyon Middle School, and Lupin Hill, White Oak, Willow and Yerba Buena elementary schools, said Donald Zimring, district assistant superintendent of business. The goal, he said, is to provide voice mail for all district staff members, including teachers. Officials hope the new system will also eliminate problems.

Bids are expected to be opened in May, said Zimring. District officials would like to have one company do the entire job, he said, mainly because it would save money and result in more efficient service.