Phones faulty in Norwich schools

Defunct hardware to blame for ‘intermittent service’ since last week

Norwich — The start of the new school year went smoothly for students, staff and even relatively smoothly for bus transportation, but the school district’s new phone system is failing fast and probably can’t be fixed.

Schools and central office phones have had “intermittent service” since the start of school last week, Superintendent Abby Dolliver told the Board of Education on Tuesday. At times parents haven’t been able to reach school officials to relay issues about students, and schools are having trouble reaching school bus drivers with issues.

The emergency call system that would alert parents if necessary still is working, school Business Administrator Athena Nagel said, because authorized users can access that system with their cellphones. School security and alarm systems also are on a different network and not affected.

The problem lies in the Toshiba hardware in the $200,000 phone system installed just two years ago. The Toshiba phone division apparently now is defunct, Nagel said. The school system’s technology staff has been calling firms across the country trying to find a specialist on the Toshiba hardware with no luck. Phone system contractor Pilot House has sent staff to Norwich and has found relatively small glitches here and there, but not the overriding problem, Nagel said.

east Academy in Mystic when crews dismantled the former Noank School building.

Through the efforts of volunteers with the garden, the bench was returned to the Noank property, Wright said. The John Turco bench and an additional bench donated by residents have become the focal point of a sitting garden near the former entrance of the school.

“Former Noank School teachers and neighbors have planted perennial shrubs around the garden and we have plans to create flower beds between the shrubs,” Wright said. All progress on the garden has resulted from small individual donations, he said.

Charles Lanza, a volunteer with the gardens, outlined a vision for the property that included baseball, soccer and lacrosse fields for children, a children’s playground, summer camp programs and ice skating. The plan also included a farm teaching program for at-risk and disadvantaged families, children’s special education programs, a children’s fall harvest festival and school clubs.

Councilor Diane Barber said she feared the property would end up another open space the town had to mow, and loved the idea and plans for it.

“I love (that) the community is getting together. It’s huge,” she said. “It teaches the children more than anything that this is what you do in life is giving back. I love the direction you’re going.”