Y2K Shouldn’t Bug Schools, Districts Say

In an effort to avoid a Y2K fiasco for students and teachers, school districts across Ventura County are hiring consultants, updating their computers and, in a few districts, even changing their school schedules.

Educators aren’t worried about a meltdown with the computers they use to track attendance and record grades. But they are concerned that some families may be so busy dealing with banking problems, plumbing failures and other Y2K-related glitches that they won’t bother to send their children to school.

That’s why Simi Valley Unified School District decided to extend its winter break by one week; students will return to school Jan. 10 rather than Jan. 3.

“We’re not afraid of what’s going to happen here, but things could happen in the community,” said Lowell Schultze, the district’s assistant superintendent. “And if something does happen, there will be enough for parents to do without having to bring their kids to school.”

A few other school districts are also allowing extra days to smooth out computer glitches. Pleasant Valley students will start Jan. 5, and Hueneme students start Jan. 4.

“That gives us a little bit of a cushion, should there be some problems,” said Sherri Kerman, instructional media coordinator for the Pleasant Valley Elementary School District. “But we don’t anticipate any.”

Most districts began preparing for the year 2000 computer problem more than a year ago, when they formed task forces and identified potential areas that needed attention. Some predict that a programming glitch will cause computers to read the date as 1900 instead of 2000, throwing off entire systems.

Wary of that, school officials have spent tens of thousands of dollars reconfiguring computers and installing new hardware, doing everything they can to stave off disaster.

The Oxnard Union High School District hired a consultant to check and fix school computers. In Simi Valley, administrators have been working for almost a year to ensure that the air-conditioning and heating systems will be up and running in the year 2000.

Pleasant Valley administrators formed a task force a year ago to tackle the problem. Kerman said the district should be Y2K compliant by October.

“We feel very confident that we are moving in the right direction,” she said. “I think we have a good game plan.”

Conejo Valley administrators started even earlier than that. For the past two years, the district has been updating a central computer system. Although the new equipment wasn’t purchased to prevent Y2K problems, Assistant Supt. Gary Mortimer said it can only help.

“We don’t expect a problem of any magnitude,” Mortimer said. “If some of the bells don’t work, we’ll get by. We’ll make it work.”

Local districts have also been working with telephone and electric companies to make sure nothing will crash on Jan. 1.

And the Ventura County superintendent of schools office corrected its central financial and payroll computer systems so that the first paychecks of the new year should arrive on time.

But despite all the preparations and provisions, many school administrators say they will still be crossing their fingers on New Year’s Eve.

“I’m assuming that we’re ready and prepared and compliant,” said Eric Ortega, assistant superintendent for the Oxnard Union High School District. “But we’ll just have to wait and see.”