Fiber outage repaired, phone, internet restored at 5 La Pine, Sunriver schools; High Desert Middle School’s water back

(Phone, internet service restored at all schools)

La PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) – A fiber optic outage in southern Deschutes County on Tuesday cut off phone and internet service at five public schools in the area, which school district officials said continued to operate on normal schedules. Service was restored later Tuesday.

The TDS outage south of Bend affected phone and online services at La Pine High School, La Pine Middle School, La Pine Elementary School, Rosland Elementary School and Three Rivers School in Sunriver, Bend-La Pine Schools spokesman Scott Maben said. BLConnect text messages said service was restored by 3:15 p.m. to the four La Pine schools and to Three Rivers by 4 p.m.

“School safety and emergency response systems are intact and unaffected by this service issue,” the school district said earlier in the day. “If you need to share an urgent message with one of these schools today, please call our central office in Bend at 541-355-1000."

TDS spokesman Mark Schaaf said at the time, “We are aware of the outage and our crews are on site and working to make repairs as soon as possible.”

Meanwhile, repairs restored water service Tuesday to High Desert Middle School in southeast Bend, after a contractor working on a nearby project cut the service line on Monday. Maben said Avion Water Company tested and cleared the tap water for consumption around 11 a.m.