Highline Public Schools closes schools following cyberattack

Highline Public Schools, a K-12 district in Washington state, has shut down all schools and canceled school activities after its technology systems were compromised in a cyberattack.

In a statement issued Monday, the district confirmed that all schools would remain closed, and all activities, including athletics and meetings, would be canceled on September 9.

However, the district’s central office remains open, and staff have been instructed to report for work. School administrators may also be called to assist in schools if necessary.

“We have detected unauthorized activity on our technology systems and have taken immediate action to isolate critical systems,” the district said. “We are working closely with third-party, state, and federal partners to safely restore and test our systems.”

The district also acknowledged the incident's impact, especially since it coincided with many students' first day of kindergarten.

"We understand this comes as an unexpected disruption, particularly on the eve of the first day of kindergarten for many of our families," the statement continued.

"We recognize the burden this decision places on both families and staff, but student safety is our top priority, and we cannot have school without these critical systems in place."

While schools are closed, the investigation into the cyberattack is ongoing. Highline Public Schools plans to update staff and families by 2:00 p.m. on Monday regarding the status of schools for Tuesday.

Highline Public Schools serves over 17,500 students across 34 schools in the Burien, Des Moines, Normandy Park, SeaTac, and White Center communities in Washington State. The district employs over 2,000 staff members and offers programs ranging from early childhood education to college preparation.

No additional information has been released about the cyberattack's nature and it's unclear whether any personal information of staff or students was exposed or stolen in the incident.

A Highline Public Schools spokesperson was not immediately available for comment when contacted by BleepingComputer earlier today.

The attack on the Highline Public Schools is just the latest in a long string of cyberattacks that have affected public school districts and students across North America and worldwide in recent years.

Most recently, an unknown attacker breached the digital classroom management platform Mobile Guardian in June and remotely wiped data from at least 13,000 student iPads and Chromebooks in North America, Europe, and Singapore.

The Toronto District School Board (TDSB), Canada's largest school board and the fourth largest in North America, also warned in June that it was the victim of a ransomware attack that impacted its software testing environment.