A Christchurch high school has been forced to close for at least two days after rodents chewed a major fibre-optic cable, crippling key systems across the campus including internet, phones and student management.
In a newsletter to the school on Monday, Hillmorton High School principal Sam Ainsworth said rodents had damaged a core fibre cable.
"Unfortunately, we have a cabling issue with a core fibre cable connection that has been severely damaged by rodents over the weekend," he said.
"This fibre connection is our main connection to the school and as a result of the damage, I have concerns about managing the health and safety of large numbers of students."
School servers were down and both wired and wireless Internet connections were unavailable. The student management system, phone system, and "critical infrastructure" such as the CCTV network was also affected by the damaged cable.
Ainsworth said students would learn from home while repairs were carried out, with staff setting work online and remaining available during regular lesson times.
"Work will be set via email or another online method like Google Classroom or Hāpara, for example,” he said.
"I imagine there may have been assessments due to take place tomorrow, and these will be rescheduled accordingly."
The school was "confident and hopeful" that classes could resume on site on Wednesday, he said.
"The cabling company will spend all day tomorrow running a new cable. We are confident that even if the network is not fully up and running, we will have had time to make provisions to ensure students can return to school."
The Ministry of Education has been contacted for comment.
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