Kalispell Public Schools not affected by software data breach
HILARY MATHESON | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 1 year, 2 months AGO
EDUCATION REPORTER Hilary Matheson covers education for the Daily Inter Lake. Her reporting focuses on schools, students, and the policies that shape public education across Northwest Montana. Matheson regularly reports on school boards, district decisions and issues affecting teachers and families. Her work examines how funding, enrollment and state policy influence local school systems. She helps readers understand how education decisions affect students and communities throughout the region. IMPACT: Hilary’s work provides transparency and insight into the schools that serve thousands of local families. | January 13, 2025 11:00 PM
PowerSchool, a software company with a popular student information platform used by K-12 school districts nationwide, including Kalispell Public Schools, experienced a data breach in December.
According to a USA Today article, hackers obtained information such as names, addresses, birth dates and Social Security Dec. 19 through Dec. 28, 2024. Hackers gained unauthorized access to the data using a compromised credential to log into a customer support portal called PowerSource, according to a letter sent by PowerSchool to school districts such as Kalispell Public Schools. The breach has since been contained, according to PowerSchool.
In PowerSchool’s letter, Kalispell Public Schools was notified that a “thorough forensic investigation” confirmed the district’s student and employee data was not impacted, although the “data analysis remains ongoing.”
School districts “weren’t widely notified until more than two weeks after the breach occurred,” according to the USA Today article published Monday.
On Jan. 9, Kalispell Public Schools Information Technology Department staff emailed letters to families regarding the company’s data breach, stating, “While this incident has affected some PowerSchool customers worldwide, at this point, we want to clearly communicate that our district's data was NOT compromised in this incident.”
In the school district’s emailed letter obtained by the Daily Inter Lake, information technology staff stated they verified local data wasn’t compromised by reviewing PowerSchool’s audit process specific to the data breach; by receiving official confirmation from PowerSchool and through, “Verification that our stringent security measures prevented any unauthorized access to our data.”
The Kalispell Public Schools Information Technology Department also noted that it continually reviews and monitors its systems to protect personal information and maintains “robust cybersecurity measures that align with national security standards to protect all data within our systems.”
PowerSchool SIS (Student Information System) allows schools to track data such as grades, attendance and schedules that students and parents may access through portals.
PowerSchool Holdings, Inc. has more than 18,000 customers in more than 90 countries and serves 60 million students, according to the company.
Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].
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