Penncrest superintendent addresses PowerSchool cybersecurity incident; district awaiting investigation results

Superintendent Ford told the board on Jan. 13 that the district’s student information vendor, PowerSchool, experienced a cybersecurity breach that affected PowerSchool’s support portal (identified in district remarks as “PowerSource”), and that the incident was not a direct breach of the district’s own servers.

“We were made aware late in the week,” the superintendent said, explaining that the district learned specifics in a webinar and that PowerSchool had gained access through the vendor’s support portal. He said investigators are working with law enforcement and private cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike to determine the scope.

Ford told the public the district had identified two broad categories of data that may have been exposed: basic contact information and possible personally identifiable information. He said the district performed internal password changes over the weekend as a precaution and that PowerSchool indicated it will offer services once the investigation concludes.

The superintendent asked residents not to respond to unsolicited communications claiming to be from PowerSchool and said that “all official communications will come from our school district.” He said the district posted a letter on its website and will provide further updates as the investigation progresses.

District officials did not provide a detailed inventory of specific fields or a confirmed number of affected records during the meeting. Ford said the district is waiting for the outcome of the vendor and law-enforcement-led investigation before taking additional public steps.