The Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board (BHNCDSB) is one of several school boards across Canada affected by a data breach involving software that stores staff and student information.

The cybersecurity incident involves PowerSchool, a third-party platform that manages a range of student and staff information, like personal contact details, marks and class schedules.

“We were notified late Tuesday … that our board is involved. However, at this time, we do not know to what extent,” Tracey Austin, a spokesperson for BHNCDSB, told The Spectator Thursday.

“(PowerSchool) stated that the incident is contained, and it does not anticipate the data will be shared or made public,” read a letter parents received Thursday afternoon.

The platform is investigating the breach and working with the board to identify “exactly what may have been shared.” In the meantime, “they have assured us that they have taken all the appropriate steps to prevent further unauthorized access or misuse of the affected data,” the letter went on to say.

The Spectator reached out to PowerSchool on Thursday, but did not hear back by deadline.

But the U.S.-based provider of cloud software told the Canadian Press in a statement it is providing services to its customers as usual as it continues to investigate the data breach.

“We take our responsibility to protect student data privacy and act responsibly as data processors extremely seriously,” it said in its statement.

The board reported the breach to the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario Thursday and is waiting for an independent third-party review of the PowerSchool breach to wrap up.

It expects a comprehensive report from the third-party cybersecurity firm by Jan. 17, the letter says.

The board recognizes “that staff and families may have questions,” but as “the cybersecurity incident occurred with the vendor and not BHNCDSB, we do not have more information to share at this time,” Austin told The Spectator.

The board will update a PowerSchool Cyber Incident page on its website as it receives more details.

Were other Hamilton-area boards affected? 

Grand Erie District School Board (GEDSB)

• BHNCDSB’s public counterpart GEDSB also uses PowerSchool, but was not impacted. “Families have been notified … and we are continuing to investigate and work with PowerSchool to always ensure student and staff privacy,” GEDSB spokesperson Ryan Strang told The Spectator Thursday afternoon. 

Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB)

• PowerSchool notified HWDSB of a breach on Wednesday and confirmed it wasn’t one of the affected institutions, spokesperson Allison Reynolds said in an email Thursday afternoon. “HWDSB staff are working through our event response protocol and have not identified any risk or concern at this time,” she wrote, noting IT staff continue to monitor system security.

Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board

• The board wasn’t affected by the cyber attack, spokesperson Debbie McGreal-Dinning said in an email Thursday afternoon.

Halton school boards

• In Halton, the public board confirmed it is unaffected. The Halton Catholic District School Board did not respond before deadline. 

—With files from Kate McCullough

Celeste Percy-Beauregard’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative. The funding allows her to report on stories about Brant County. Reach her at cpercybeauregard@torstar.ca.

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