Local News
This is at least the fourth similar incident to impact a Massachusetts school district in recent years.
Springfield Public Schools will be closed on Tuesday following a “cyber incident,” school officials announced.
The incident caused the interruption of services that are “necessary for school operations,” Superintendent Dr. Sonia Dinnall said in a social media post.
“We understand that an unexpected closure creates significant challenges and we appreciate the patience, flexibility and understanding of the entire Springfield Public Schools community as we work to address this incident and restore systems,” said Dinnall.
The closure will also allow administrators to organize backup plans for non-essential technology tools, such as attendance, that may remain available while the incident is under investigation, officials said.
“The decision to close schools is not made lightly,” said Dinnall. “The most important consideration will always be the health and safety of those inside our school buildings. We simply are not willing to risk any lapse in that.”
Students with district-issued laptops and all staff should remain off of district networks until the scope and size of the breach is determined, the school district said.
All schools will be closed and all afterschool activities are canceled for Tuesday. The district’s central office will be open, although some services like phones may be impacted by the incident, the district said.
In April, Fall River Public Schools announced it experienced a ransomware attack where hackers had access to vulnerable systems for months, The Herald News reported. In May, Boston-area colleges and Needham Public Schools were impacted by a nationwide security breach of Canvas, an online assignment and exam portal, according to WCVB.
In 2023, Nantucket Public Schools closed midday after their “computer systems were compromised” in a ransomware attack. Also in 2023, Swansea Public Schools closed for a day due to a ransomware attack caused by an encrypted download that was run by someone within the district.
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