Indianapolis Public Schools cancels class Tuesday due to internet outage

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis Public Schools canceled class Tuesday due to internet issues that disrupted virtual learning for the district's 30,000 students.

A statement from IPS said the technical issues were a result of damage to the district internet provider's fiber optic cables, which the provider is working to fix.

"This outage did not affect everyone in the district but was widespread enough that it warranted IPS administration to cancel remote learning for the day," the statement said. "IPS is working internally to share with families how students can make up today’s lessons. ... Teachers are also working to ensure lessons are available for the remainder of the week if the internet outage persists."

At around 8:30 a.m., IPS announced its internet and online services were down. The district alerted students and families a two-hour delay would be in place about 50 minutes later. Virtual classes were canceled for the day just after 11:45 a.m.

IPS students have participated in remote learning since Aug. 17 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The district announced Sept. 15 it plans to reopen its doors for in-person classes in October. Students in pre-kindergarten through third grade will be the first to return to in-class learning five days week.