Mansfield ISD teachers were continuing classes without the use of the Internet and other web-based systems after the district was hit with a ransomware attack.
A post made after 4 p.m. Wednesday to the ISD's Facebook page indicated the outage was ongoing. The school's home page appeared to be offline as late as 5 p.m. Thursday.
The disruption impacted the district’s access to its website, email and phone services. Campuses remained closed to visitors because the Raptor identification system – which enables staff to screen those who enter schools – also went down, officials said in a news release.
“Many of our educational tools and processes are facilitated by being connected to the Internet, but our amazing teachers and staff have been able to use their fundamental skills and relationships with students to move ahead despite the hurdles we’re experiencing,” Superintendent Kimberley Cantu said in a statement.
It’s unclear what data was compromised. Mansfield officials are working with authorities to protect student and staff information, according to the news release.
More information will be sent to families via social media.
A recent report from the Government Accountability Office noted 99 student data breaches reported from July 1, 2016, through May 5, 2020, that compromised the data of thousands of students in 287 school districts.
Dallas ISD was hit with a data breach last fall.
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