The South Carolina Department of Education (SCDE) is working to assess the impact of a cybersecurity breach involving PowerSchool, a widely used student information system, that compromised data across multiple states and school districts, including nearly all in South Carolina.
PowerSchool informed the SCDE of the breach on Tuesday, identifying its PowerSource portal as the source of unauthorized access to personally identifiable information (PII). While PowerSchool assured the breach has been contained and steps have been taken to secure its systems, state and district officials are still determining the extent of the damage.
“The protection of our South Carolina students’ and educators’ personal data is non-negotiable,” said State Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver. “We fully recognize the anxiety this raises for them and their families. Our Department will take uncompromising action to uncover the complete extent of this incident and ensure affected individuals are notified and supported.”
PowerSchool has committed to notifying those impacted and providing credit and identity monitoring services. Additionally, the SCDE is collaborating with the State Law Enforcement Division (SLED), the Attorney General’s Office, and the Governor’s office to address the breach.
On Thursday, SCDE provided an update to school districts, revealing that all South Carolina districts except Edgefield County School District, Greenville County Schools, Horry County Schools, and Richland School District Two were identified by PowerSchool as being affected. However, inclusion on the list does not confirm data extraction, according to PowerSchool.
Several districts are now working with the South Carolina District Data Governance Group (DDGG) and SCDE to determine whether data was accessed or extracted. SCDE continues to support districts in mitigating potential harm to students and educators.
“We will remain in close communication with districts and PowerSchool to ensure the necessary steps are taken to address this incident,” the SCDE stated.
The SCDE urges parents, students, and educators to remain vigilant about potential identity theft or fraud as the investigation continues. More updates will be shared as the situation develops.
