Neenah schools closed as cybersecurity investigation continues
NEENAH - Neenah school officials aren't sure whether students will be able to resume classes this week after a technology systems breach forced them to shut down school Tuesday.
Without working phones, which were affected by the breach, administrators feel it would be unsafe to hold school in person. And given related internet and software outages, virtual school is impossible.
Local and federal law enforcement continued to investigate the incident Tuesday, though few additional details had been reported.
The incident began around 5:30 a.m. Monday, when the district's technology team started receiving calls about email and other software programs being down.
Superintendent Mary Pfeiffer said the tech team realized there had been potentially unauthorized access to the district's system by a third party. As they continued to review the situation, there were internet and phone outages, as well as outages to other software the district uses.
When the district canceled school, it said the hope was to have kids back in person on Wednesday.
Pfeiffer said that the interruption to phone service is enough of a safety concern to drive the closure of schools.
"Our communications system is critical to providing a safe environment to everyone," Pfeiffer said.
Without working phones, the schools can't call parents if their child gets sick, and parents can't call to inform of a family emergency, for example.
Pfeiffer added that teachers use technology to supplement their lessons and store the plans and information for what they will cover in their lessons.
Even before the pandemic, Neenah schools were using technology to do online learning on days that would have otherwise been snow days, but students can't access what they would normally need to do school remotely.
Around noon on Tuesday, Pfeiffer said they were still waiting for systems to be restored and other next steps from the investigation.
Neenah Police Chief Aaron Olson told The Post-Crescent that he didn't have any additional information and to talk with the school district.
The hope is to have phones working again so students can come back on Wednesday, Pfeiffer said, but it would be ideal to have access to internal software programs again.
Another message would be sent out to families later Tuesday to let them know whether or not students can come back Wednesday.
Pfeiffer said there is no reason to believe any confidential or personal information was compromised.
Neenah's tech team has done trainings with the staff about phishing and explained the importance of changing passwords and being careful about clicking on links.
As the district navigates this situation, she said, the greatest help people can offer is being patient.
Reach AnnMarie Hilton at ahilton@gannett.com or 920-370-8045. Follow her on Twitter at @hilton_annmarie.
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