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Marshall administrators notify board of preliminary PowerSchool vendor breach; students' Social Security numbers not entered
Summary
District administrators reported a recent breach of their student information vendor, PowerSchool. Officials said students' Social Security numbers were not stored in the new system and likely were not exposed; staff data remains uncertain and the investigation is ongoing.
At the start of the fiscal/operations report, Mr. Pettit, a central office administrator, informed the Marshall School Board that the district had been notified of a cybersecurity breach involving a third-party student information vendor, PowerSchool.
Pettit said the district learned of the incident on or around Jan. 7 and that the district did not enter student Social Security numbers into the recently adopted student information system, reducing the likelihood that student SSNs were exposed. Pettit told the board the district is less certain about staff records and that an investigation is ongoing.
"We were notified somewhere on or around January 7th that they were breached," Pettit said. He characterized the situation as preliminary: "it's just too early to be certain," and added that the district expects the vendor to provide more detailed information and possible mitigation services for affected individuals if warranted. Pettit also noted the district's student information system is not used for payment processing, which mitigates some financial-fraud risks.
District staff said they would post a fuller explanation on the district website and provide contact information for families and staff with questions.
