All Highline Public Schools will remain closed on Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024 due to ongoing technology breach concerns, the district announced Tuesday afternoon, Sept. 10.
This will be the third consecutive day that the district has closed all schools due to this incident, which started over the weekend.
All school activities, athletics and meetings are canceled, but the central office will be open.
“Our investigation into unauthorized activity on certain systems on our network is ongoing,” officials said. “As a precaution, we have taken certain systems offline which are important for the safe operation of our schools.”
This all started last weekend when an unauthorized actor gained access to certain systems on the district’s network. Their 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,” the district said. “Consequently, this has limited access to certain systems and applications required for the safe operation of schools. These steps are being taken out of an abundance of caution to prevent any further spread of the unauthorized activity.”
Highline Public Schools is providing updates to families through ParentSquare (robocalls, emails, text messages), their website and social media (Facebook and Instagram).
The district added:
“Please refer to the staff expectations for school closure to determine whether to report to work.
“We know this is difficult for students, families, staff and our district as a whole. However, we are actively working around the clock to bring the relevant systems back online quickly and securely so that we can open schools again. We will keep you informed with updates as soon as they become available.
“Student safety and well-being remains a top priority. Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.”
Will they be making these days up? Hopefully, not all at the end of the year as that presents another hardship on families.