Jefferson School District cancels Thursday classes after ransomware attack
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RIGBY — Jefferson School District 251 will be closing its schools on Thursday and canceling Parent-Teacher Conferences on Wednesday and Thursday following a ransomware attack that affected district technology and computer systems.
The district is working with an information technology company that specializes in these scenarios to determine the extent of the attack and the necessary steps to resolve it.
“In meeting with our recovery team today, we learned the process will take some time to remedy. Without the use of most technology in classrooms teachers are having to adjust how they deliver curriculum,” Superintendent Chad Martin wrote to parents on Tuesday.
Every school in the district — Rigby High School, Jefferson High School, Rigby Middle School, Farnsworth Middle School, Cottonwood Elementary, the Early Childhood Center, Harwood Elementary, Jefferson Elementary, Midway Elementary, Roberts Elementary and South Fork Elementary — was impacted by the attack.
“We can’t use technology until we really understand the source (of the ransomware). Teachers need some time to plan and adjust because, you know, we rely heavily on (technology),” Martin told EastIdahoNews.com Wednesday morning.
Parent-Teacher Conferences are also cancelled, demonstrating the integrated role technology plays in delivering education and measuring results.
“It’s a combination of not having the records available to really give parents good information and have quality conversations with them,” Martin said, “But also so teachers have some time to shift in their instruction starting next week.”
The attack was discovered by the district’s IT personnel.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has been notified of the incident, as required by law.
“So they’re working on that end,” Martin said. “But it’s the IT people that we’re meeting with, just to see what we can restore, how quickly, and just try to get everything back up to normal as quick as we can.”
Phone lines are down at many of the schools, but parents can reach out to the emergency text line numbers that the school district emailed to all patrons on Tuesday.
District administration meets daily with the IT team to review its progress and receive status updates.
“It’s an ongoing investigation, so we can’t get too deep into it,” Martin said. “What we sent out (in emails) is what we have. We’ll continue to update our parents and patrons as we get the information.”
Students were already scheduled to be released one hour early on Wednesday, which is still occurring, have no school on Thursday or Friday and will resume normal school hours on Monday, Martin said.