Springfield Public Schools has called a schools closure for Tuesday, September 8 following a cyber incident that has interrupted the service of some systems necessary for essential school operations, Superintendent Dr. Sonia Dinnall announced today.
The schools closure will allow district officials to continue the urgent address of the issue, she said. “We understand that an unexpected closure creates significant challenges and we appreciate the patience, flexibility and understanding of the entire Springfield Public Schools community as we work to address this incident and restore systems,” said Dinnall
She added that the exact scope and size of the incident remains under investigation and said that all Springfield Public Schools staff have been directed to stay off of district network systems until further information is known.
Students with district-issued the laptops should do the same, she said “The decision to close schools is not made lightly”, said Dinnall. “The most important consideration will always be the health and safety of those inside our school buildings. We simply are not willing to risk any lapse in that.”
She added that the school closure will also allow administrators to organize backup plans for non-essential technology tools, such as attendance reporting, for example, that may remain available while the matter continues to be addressed.
The closure is schools-based, but Central Office remains open, though some services, including phone lines, may be impacted.
School closures also include the cancellation of after-school activities.
