Damage caused to fiber optic cables caused a Wi-Fi and phone outage throughout Stockton Unified that lasted from Tuesday morning until late that night. Teachers, staff, and students had to improvise due to classroom materials being online and needing to prepare backup plans.

Stacia Greenberg-Ocampo, first year Multimedia teacher, conveys the importance of Wi-Fi at school. Although Greenberg-Ocampo states that her final assignments have been going well and the students are very enthusiastic, she states how the completion of her students’ final has been set back due to the outage. “There are students who are filming right now but students who need to edit cannot edit right now, so actually they are playing board games and connecting with their individual groups right now.”

Yearbook teacher Martin Bagnasco has adapted but has strong feelings about the outage. With the yearbook deadline coming up soon, the class hopes to get it finished on time. Bagnasco keeps students productive by sending them out to conduct interviews and tells them to “get back to work as soon as internet gets back on.” 

Secretary Erika Parra expresses she was easily able to adjust. Parra states, “I cannot access my email or other things on my computer, but I am able to use my phone for the important things, like student access or you know, to communicate with other teachers.” 

Tuesday was the only day affected, as SUSD Information Services were able to repair internet and phone services by Wednesday morning.