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District tightens website access to curb phishing, selects K‑12 helpdesk and completes redundant internet connections
Summary
Technology staff reported they removed public staff directories and replaced them with a contact form to reduce phishing; staff also described a drop in phishing incidents. The district presented a plan to adopt Incident IQ as a K‑12 helpdesk (cited cost savings vs. current vendor) and said network redundancy work is complete.
Unionville-Chadds Ford School District technology staff on April 7 presented multiple operational changes intended to reduce phishing risk, improve help‑desk services and strengthen network reliability.
Web and cybersecurity: Technology staff said the district removed public-facing staff directories and replaced them with a contact form that delivers messages to individual staff members to reduce harvesting of addresses used in phishing campaigns. “At the beginning of the school year ... we received 208 phishing attacks,” the technology presenter said, adding that phishing reports dropped substantially after the site change. Staff acknowledged some community feedback that the contact form felt less direct; the district has since added clarifying text directing parents to the PowerSchool parent portal for teacher contact information and a post‑submit message to confirm messages are sent directly to the selected staff member.
Helpdesk/service management: Staff described a multi‑vendor review of service‑management systems and recommended Incident IQ, a K‑12 help‑desk platform. They said Incident IQ offers integration with PowerSchool and Google tools, school‑level visibility, K‑12‑specific automations, and a large user community. Cost figures presented compared the district’s current vendor (Freshservice) at $17,005.64 with Incident IQ at $8,730 (student‑count pricing), a district presenter said; staff characterized the move as both a functionality and cost benefit.
Network redundancy: Technology presenters reported completion of a redundant internet path for several schools, including new fiber runs to provide a secondary path so the district will require two outages in separate locations to lose connectivity. The district said it tested the implementation and expects the change to reduce the risk of widespread outages caused by single‑point infrastructure failures.
Staff acknowledged remaining work to tidy some web pages and to improve the form’s appearance so it feels less like a barrier to community contact, and they said they will continue to monitor phishing reports and user feedback. No formal board action was taken April 7; staff said security testing and vendor procurement steps will be reported to the board in subsequent briefings.
