In December 2024, hackers attacked PowerSchool, the company that handles the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System’s data system. School district officials sent out a message through its ParentSquare messager, assuring parents that no student data was accessed.
PowerSchool discovered the breach on Dec. 28, and made districts aware of the incident on Jan. 7. The district sent the message via ParentSquare on Dec. 9.
PowerSchool let customers know of a “potential cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to certain PowerSchool SIS information through one of our community-focused customer portals, PowerSource.”
According to the CMCSS ParentSquare message, “The CMCSS Technology Department has been closely monitoring the recent PowerSchool data breach and has been in communication with PowerSchool since the incident was first discovered. PowerSchool has assured us that there is no indication that any CMCSS student or employee data has been compromised. Furthermore, our Technology Department conducted a thorough investigation of our internal systems to verify this information.”
Many school district nationwide had sensitive student data stolen. According to a PowerSchool news release, “student names, contact information, date of birth, limited medical alert information, Social Security Number (SSN), and other related information” may have been accessed by the hackers.
The CMCSS technology department assured parents that the district does not store social security numbers in PowerSchool.
CMCSS said it would continue to monitor the situation. If circumstances change, it will notify parents.
