Burbank Unified hears calls for new phone systems at schools
Some of Burbank schools’ oldest phone systems, dating back to pre-millennial times, will be replaced with a new high-tech system, following the Burbank school board’s approval Thursday night.
As the school district continues to update its technological infrastructure, staff recommended the board approve a $1.4-million phone system, one that will take crews about two years to install campus by campus.
Elementary schools such as Edison and Stevenson, whose phone systems date to the 1990s, will be among the first to make the switch.
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Instead of carrying calls over digital or analog phone lines, the new system will carry them over the Internet, so employees across the district will be able to pick up calls to their work lines remotely on their personal phones.
Teachers and staff can also conduct video calls.
But should an emergency restrict Internet access, each school will still have access to four analog phone lines, said Roberto Jurado, assistant director of information technology for Burbank Unified.
For other school-related emergencies, the new system comes with greater perks than the current one, Jurado said.
Should a teacher call 911, responders will determine from which classroom the call was made, instead of seeing only the school’s address, which is the extent of location information the responders receive currently.
“It’s a very powerful system, and we think it would greatly benefit the district,” Jurado said.
School board President Larry Applebaum asked that staff consider selling the current system, instead of sending parts off to be recycled through an e-waste program.
“There is a very robust resale market,” he said.
The $1.4 million will be paid for using a combination of the school district’s general fund and its Measure S bond, and school officials expect about $500,000 in savings during the next decade, according to a district report.
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Kelly Corrigan, kelly.corrigan@latimes.com
Twitter: @kellymcorrigan
