FUHSD experienced a districtwide internet outage on Monday, April 6, after a fiber-optic cable break disrupted connectivity across all campuses, district officials say. Fiber-optic cables, such as the one that supplies FUHSD, carry internet data as light signals through glass strands, enabling fast, high-speed connections. Teachers were notified at 6:49 a.m. through an email from district administration that detailed a break in a fiber line operated by Crown Castle, the district’s internet provider, which caused the internet outage. In the email, FUHSD Chief Technology Officer Menko Johnson explained that Crown Castle and the district teams were working to resolve this issue. 

The outage affected classroom instruction and school operations throughout the district, limiting access to many online platforms such as Infinite Campus, which is used for attendance systems, and Schoology, where students access assignments and class materials. 

According to Principal Ben Clausnitzer, the impact was most visible in classrooms where teachers rely on internet-based resources for lessons. Districtwide advisory and closed-tutorial activities scheduled for Monday were also canceled. 

“We were hoping to present information on bullying,” Clausnitzer said. “That included cyberbullying and an end-of-the-year survey around the advisory to get student feedback on this year’s advisory for future years.”

Johnson added in his email that the district recently signed a contract with AT&T to install an additional fiber line using an alternate route, meaning the district will have a backup connection if one line fails. While the upgrade will not resolve the current outage, it is expected to prevent similar disruptions in the future by reducing reliance on a single network path. 

In the meantime, staff and students are continuing instruction using offline materials while the district works to restore the service. Johnson’s second email at 12:53 p.m. informed staff that Crown Castle said to expect the fix to take six to eight hours.

“Johnson and the district’s tech team are working with outside providers’ resources to make sure that fiber gets fixed,” Clausnitzer said. “That should be around 6 p.m. We are crossing our fingers that school will continue tomorrow.”