Parents in the School District of University City received phone calls Monday afternoon informing them that their children were not in school.

When parents tried to call their child's school to find out what was going on, phone lines were tied up preventing calls from going through.

Soon after the school district sent out the phone calls, parents were emailed the following message.

If you get an automated call reporting that your student was not in school today, it is probably incorrect. You cannot call the school to correct the problem right now because the phones are not responding. The school district is working with the SIS company right now to correct the situation. We apologize for the confusion.

The email was sent to parents of students at University City High School, Jackson Park Elementary School, Brittany Woods Middle School and Flynn Park Elementary School.

The confusion, which occurred near dismissal time Monday afternoon, caused quite a stir with parents. One mother, responding to the mass email, said the delay in response from the district was unacceptable.

For those of us who put a kid on the bus, or left for work before our child got on the bus, this was a terrifying experience. Apologies half an hour later are really not sufficient. It is unbelievably irresponsible to call an entire school at 3 p.m. and tell them that their children are not at school. And then not to be able to get through? This is the third time this year that this phone system has not worked properly. It's time to fix it or get rid of it.

Are you a parent in the school district? What was your reaction to today's phone call? Tell us in the comments.