Evanston Township High School will reopen Wednesday following a ransomware attack that closed its campus for two days, ETHS District 202 announced on its website Monday evening.
The district cannot yet determine whether personal data was accessed during the attack. In an email to students and families Sunday evening, Superintendent Marcus Campbell indicated the district was coordinating with the Federal Bureau of Investigation to investigate the incident.
“The district is working with cybersecurity forensic experts to determine what information, if any, may have been accessed or acquired,” the website read on Monday.
The district explained the closure was necessary because Sunday’s incident, according to the website, “affected critical systems needed to safely operate the building,” including the school’s internet services and PA announcements.
While the building’s phone system remains down, the district “has tested emergency systems” and will continue implementing additional safety measures “for the foreseeable future,” the website stated. All Summer School classes and sports camps will resume Wednesday.
The attack was not mentioned during the District 202 Board of Education’s Monday night meeting, which was moved to the superintendent’s office and featured an abbreviated agenda.
Board members reviewed the district’s tentative budget for the 2026-27 school year, which the board is expected to formally consider this fall.
Kendra Williams, the district’s chief financial officer, explained the tentative operating budget represents just a 1.91% increase from the previous fiscal year, lower than the district’s standard growth.
According to the tentative budget, salaries represent 69% of the district’s operating expenses. Williams noted that this year’s comparatively small increase in salary expenditures follows the board’s January vote to lay off 12 ETHS staff members and reduce 21 positions.
When asked by newly-elected Student Representative Olin Wilson-Thomas whether next year’s budget might necessitate additional layoffs, Williams said she does “not expect to see as sweeping an amount of cuts” next year, though “everything is still on the table.”
Board member Leah Piekarz asked Williams how delays in Cook County property tax disbursement could affect ETHS moving forward. Property taxes comprise 83% of the district’s operating revenue, according to the tentative budget.
The delays, which Williams said could happen again, demonstrate the importance of responsible budgeting, she argued.
“You could not have a more glaring example of why it’s so important to have a strong fund balance,” she said. “Because the bills did not stop, and everybody kept showing up to work, which meant we had to continue paying everyone.”
Williams and Campbell recalled how District 202 received property tax revenue just hours before it planned to issue tax anticipation warrants, short-term loans that allow school districts to cover expenditures while awaiting delayed funds.
Williams added that last year’s delays also cost the district “hundreds of thousands of dollars in investments.” She highlighted the importance of maintaining a strong safety net moving forward.
“When our fund balance is less, that’s less money that is available to cover us in challenging times,” Williams said. “You don’t want to be in a position where you can’t weather these storms.”
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