A Pennsbury parent and cybersecurity professional told the board Dec. 18 he was concerned about a third‑party communications app used by the marching band and other school groups, saying the app stores data abroad and has sustained high-profile breaches that exposed conversations, location data and personally identifying information.

"According to their terms, all of the data on our students is hosted in Singapore," the parent said, adding that the company is affiliated with firms that have experienced breaches and that such breaches can fuel sextortion and extortion targeting young people. He said he raised the concerns with a teacher in June and again in July and presented a lightweight risk assessment to staff.

Board members and staff responded that the district has no evidence its families were impacted. Superintendent-level or board staff said the district is monitoring PowerSchool and related platforms and that the district’s IT team focuses on preventing breaches. Jen Veil, the district’s supervisor of public relations, explained the district’s transition from legacy tools (Remind/Blackboard) into the PowerSchool/SchoolMessenger product family and said key messaging features have been delayed by the vendor; she said the district is exploring alternatives and will meet vendors after the holidays.

Board members stressed the importance of parent education and digital literacy; the board said it runs annual presentations for parents on sexting and online safety and will continue outreach. The district also noted that any district-managed platform would not require Social Security numbers and that parents must opt in to external apps such as the Band App.