BUTLER TWP — Butler School District inadvertently sent automated phone calls to more than 20,000 phone numbers early this morning notifying parents and emergency contacts of a two-hour delay.

The district has received numerous complaints about the 5:30 a.m. calls.

Dale Lumley, superintendent, said he was not aware calls would be made to parents and every emergency contact, and the district is working on a different notification system for the future. Some students have up to six emergency contacts.

“The reason we’re getting calls today is those emergency contact people don’t want to be called at 5:30 in the morning to be told there’s a two-hour delay because it doesn’t affect them,” Lumley said. “We’re trying to to get the word out to everyone as quickly as we can. We apologize for the fact that many people who are emergency contacts received the call and they didn’t even know they were emergency contacts.”

During the next two-hour delay, which could be as soon as Wednesday, only primary phone numbers will be called, he said.

Butler School District has used their automated phone call system Alert Now for the past few years, but automated calls were to only be used in emergency situations.

Lumley, who’s been superintendent since July, said he wasn’t sure if the emergency system was ever used.