The Simi Valley Unified School Board approved an emergency action at its meeting last week to purchase a new communications system for Sinaloa Middle School after the old one broke down last month.

The new phone system was scheduled to be replaced “a couple years down the line” with modernization project monies from the C4 bond measure, said Lowell Schultze, the district’s associate superintendent of business and facilities.

The action, which passed unanimously, will simply move

he schedule forward, using the same funds and not pulling any money from district programs or budgets.

“We tried to fix it and couldn’t get the parts,” Schultze said. “In order to not go through

he bidding process we had to declare an emergency. Because of the safety issue of having the phones operating, the county approved it.”

Installation of the new system began this week. It will be up and running by the first day of school, Aug. 26, Schultze said.

—Joann Groff