School board approves letter to AG for data breach

pppppppManage your accountppppFeb 15The Lee County Schools Board of Education has requested that the North Carolina Attorney General pursue legal action against PowerSchool over a nationwide data breach that occurred late last yearppThe school board voted unanimously to send a letter to the AG which was requested by board member Alan Rummel during their Tuesday Feb 11 meetingppPowerSchool is an educational software provider based in Folsom Calif that runs the most commonly used student information system in US schools according to Education WeekppAccording to reports the data breach began Dec 19 and ran through Dec 28 2024 School districts were notified about the breach on Jan 11 and 12ppDuring the board meeting on Tuesday attorney Stephen Rawson called it an internationallyinitiated incident and called it very seriousppIt contained 12 years worth of data of staff and students he said In North Carolina it affected 300000 school staff members In Lee County it affected school staff and the Social Security numbers of 910 charter school students according to RawsonppHe added that he was told that the comprised data was subsequently destroyed by those who took itppHe noted that those affected are being given free credit monitoring by PowerSchoolppRawson said theres nothing that LCS or the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction could have done to prevent the breach which occurred when a PowerSchool contractors account was compromisedppRawson said that other school districts are considering legal action against PowerSchoolppAccording to Public Information Officer James Alverson LCS began using PowerSchool in 2013 when NCDPI began using it as the statewide student information system LCS stopped using PowerSchool on June 30 2024 when it started using Infinite Campus as part of a pilot programppNCDPI is in the process of transitioning every district in the state to Infinite Campus Alverson said in an emailppBRANCHING MINDSppAs part of new business the LCS Board approved a 79963 contract with Branching Minds for educational software for the next school year Alverson said Branching Minds will supplement Infinite CampusppAccording to an agenda document Branching Minds provides a comprehensive K12 educational platform that fosters personalized learning solutions for teachers and studentsppStefanie Clarke director of accountability planning and performance said Branching Minds will provide tools for teachers to take action in regard to helping studentsppBranching Minds will be utilized for information thats currently stored on several platforms Clarke said adding that the latter is time consuming and limits our ability to track progress in real timeppShe said students attendance and behavior can be used in Branching Minds platformppShe noted that LCS considered four companies for the new contract including PowerSchool Panorama and AbreppDossenbach said the funding is available due to a change in curriculum We spent much more than 79000 previously he saidppI think this is a really great step Rummel said calling Branching Minds a powerful toolppBoard Chair Sherry Lynn Womack and Clarke said school principals and teachers are excited about the productppBUDGETppThe school board will have a public hearing at 5 pm on the proposed 202526 budget followed by a budget work session on Monday Feb 17p