Superintendent Curtis told the School Committee that PowerSchool — a widely used student information system — experienced a global breach that allowed an unauthorized user to export fields labeled “student” and “teacher” from PowerSchool servers.

The district’s initial analysis showed the breach allowed export of directory fields such as home addresses, phone numbers and email addresses; the superintendent said the breach did not include passwords. Curtis said PowerSchool informed customers that the attacker used a compromised PowerSchool employee account and that PowerSchool has taken steps to secure systems and will provide credit‑monitoring and identity‑protection services for affected minors.

Curtis said the district circulated two family information releases and two staff notices the same day the breach was disclosed, and the district’s technology team has continued to assess the scope. He said PowerSchool serves about 18,000 customers worldwide, and the breach affects many districts beyond Pittsfield.

Director of Technology Richard White was present for questions from committee members and committee members thanked him for the department’s rapid work. Committee members raised cybersecurity concerns and said they expect the vendor to be held accountable and to provide needed remediation and protective services for affected families.

The committee heard that the district’s next steps include monitoring PowerSchool updates, coordinating family and staff communications, and evaluating any additional local mitigations the technology office recommends. No formal action or appropriation was taken on Jan. 8.

The superintendent also updated the committee on several district initiatives in the same report, including an EPA Clean School Bus Program rebate application and ongoing assessments for English learners (WIDA) and special education processes; those items were presented as informational updates and accepted as part of the superintendent’s report.