EDITOR’S NOTE: This post has been updated with new information released by Highline Public Schools.
Due to an ongoing breach of its technology systems, all Highline Public Schools will remain closed on Tuesday, Sept. 10, the district announced on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024.
All school activities, athletics and meetings are canceled; however, the district’s central office will be open.
The district said that an unauthorized actor gained access to certain systems on their network, prompting immediate action from the technology team to mitigate the breach.
Protective measures were taken, including disconnecting the network from internet access. As a result, some systems and applications essential for school operations have been impacted.
Additionally, phone systems are functioning intermittently.
“Please know that these steps are being taken out of an abundance of caution to prevent any further spread of the unauthorized activity,” officials said.
As we previously reported, on Sunday the district announced it would close schools on Monday, Sept. 9 due to “unauthorized activity” detected on the district’s technology systems.
“Our investigation into unauthorized activity on our technology systems is ongoing, and critical systems are still offline,” the district said. “We have not seen evidence of staff, family or student information compromised. If this changes, we will notify impacted individuals.”
The district added:
“An unauthorized actor gained access to certain systems on our network. Our technology team immediately identified the unauthorized access and took steps to limit the unauthorized activity.
“We took several protective measures in response to the incident, including disconnecting our network from internet access – and our phone systems are working intermittently. Consequently, this has limited access to certain systems and applications required for the safe operation of schools.
“To assist with the investigation and as a precautionary measure, we are asking all staff to stop using their district-issued computer and laptop until further notice.
“At this time, Office 365 (including email) and our district website are operational. If you have a district-provided cell phone, you may continue using it to access email. We will provide further updates on school closures and the ongoing incident using Office 365, ParentSquare and our district website: highlineschools.org.
“Please know that these steps are being taken out of an abundance of caution to prevent any further spread of the unauthorized activity.
“Our technology team is working diligently to get our services back online. Our goal is to get these systems back quickly and securely.”