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Board renews Canvas for a year while district probes limited data exposure; staff also approve ECATs, ClassLink and assessment renewals
Summary
Catawba County Schools approved one‑year renewals for Canvas and ClassLink, a two‑year ECATs contract for 504 management, and Formative assessment licenses; the Canvas vendor reported a recent breach limited to directory information (names, emails, course names).
Catawba County School officials on June 22 approved multiple technology and service renewals while flagging a recent data exposure connected to the district’s Canvas learning management system.
Mr. Marty Sharp briefed the board on the Canvas renewal and a recent incident. He said preliminary reports indicate the exposure involved directory information such as usernames, email addresses and names, and course names — what he described as "directory information" — and that the district had not seen grades, Social Security numbers, addresses or phone numbers disclosed in this incident. "Preliminary results show that we're looking at probably email and username and names. Those are directory information," Sharp said. He told the board the vendor has addressed the breach but the district is still waiting on the full report and plans to convene stakeholders this fall to evaluate alternatives.
Despite the incident, board members approved a one‑year renewal for Canvas to avoid the heavy workload of migrating thousands of courses before the start of the school year. Sharp said districts often cannot rebuild more than 1,000 courses quickly and that cross‑listing and administrative services would save significant staff time.
Separately, the board approved a two‑year agreement with Public Consulting Group to continue using the ECATs platform for managing more than 800 active 504 plans, including translation services to support non‑English‑speaking parents. The presenter said translation was kept after counselor feedback that it was necessary.
The board also approved renewal quotes for Formative assessment licenses (paid from AIG and textbook funds) and ClassLink (single sign‑on platform known locally as CCS Engage); Sharp noted ClassLink provides automated account creation and single sign‑on and that the district is testing data‑anonymization features to reduce risk if vendor breaches occur.
All motions for these contracts and renewals passed unanimously.
Next steps: district staff will continue the Canvas investigation, await the vendor's full report, and pursue stakeholder input on LMS options this fall.
