RPS cybersecurity incident leaves teachers scrambling
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Richmond Public Schools remains without internet while officials investigate a cybersecurity incident that disrupted classroom instruction and school communications last week.
Why it matters: The outage has left teachers scrambling and raised concerns about whether sensitive personal data was compromised.
Catch up quick: The incident began Wednesday when employees discovered threatening messages on district computers claiming hackers had stolen sensitive information.
- Superintendent Jason Kamras says front office phone lines are working, security cameras are functioning and emergency calls were never affected.
- Cybersecurity experts and law enforcement are still trying to understand what happened.
The latest: RPS — which has shifted largely to digital textbooks — is working with three printers to produce and deliver teaching materials while internet access is down, spokesperson Clay Barbour tells Axios.
- The district is offering all students and staff one year of free identity and credit monitoring through Experian, Barbour says, though it hadn't determined whether data was stolen or how many people were affected.
- RPS also opened a "command center" to answer families' questions from 8am to 4pm at 804-780-1849 or [email protected].
- Barbour confirmed RPS has insurance but says the cost of its cybersecurity response remains unknown.
Meanwhile: Educators and students have raised concerns about school safety and mounting disruptions.
- Open High School senior Avin Cassidy-Eversoll tells Axios the outage has complicated college applications, with teachers struggling to submit recommendation letters while students face Nov. 1 deadlines.
- One teacher told WTVR they lacked textbooks and access to copiers and their digital lesson plans.
- Henderson Middle School teacher Sofia Barbieri told The Richmonder that the cameras and landlines weren't working Wednesday and staff couldn't access parent contact information.
- And Richmond Education Association president Andrea Bryant told VPM that the inability to access attendance records and other essential systems has left educators worried about student and staff safety.
Zoom out: Gov. Spanberger ordered a statewide cybersecurity plan Friday, though the announcement doesn't mention K–12 schools.
- RPS is the second Richmond-area school district to experience a major cybersecurity disruption this year.
- Hanover schools shut down internet access in March after a similar incident, which investigators later linked to an attempted ransomware attack.