Members of the Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative School Board are concerned about student information that was released as a result of a computer hack in January.
At Tuesday’s School Board meeting, district Director of Technology Nicholas Buroker said that the PowerSchool data breach earlier this winter was the biggest ever in terms of information about children being illegally accessed. PowerSchool manages Student Information Systems, one of the most widely used education technology programs in the nation.
“PowerSchool paid off the hackers in an amount estimated to be in seven figures, and the hackers sent a video of the shred command being used, meant to suggest that the information acquired was trashed,” Buroker said. However, Buroker added, “That is a pretty weak verification that the data actually was trashed.”
He went on to explain how information about current students can have ramifications well into the future.
“When they’re in college or as adults, you could find out that you have three mortgages and some maxed-out credit cards. It’s not a big data issue now, but when these students are adults, their info will be out there,” said Buroker.
Board members asked whether an alternative to PowerSchool would be worth looking into at this point. Buroker said that in light of this breach, it’s unlikely that the firm remains as vulnerable to such an incident again.
“We can count on PowerSchool being extra vigilant now,” Buroker said.
Board member Geoffrey Allen echoed this sentiment.
“It’s kind of like after you have been on an airplane that loses engine power – it’s pretty unlikely that this will happen again on your next flight,” Allen said.
Buroker said that information accessed by the hackers included addresses, parent contact information and allergies, and he acknowledged that student Social Security numbers were also part of the information. The board asked him whether the district had any recourse.
“There are two class-action lawsuits against PowerSchool. We’ve been invited to join them. There’s been no decision about that yet. The school district’s legal counsel will decide about this course next month, and the school board must vote on the decision,” said Buroker.
Budget worries
Business Administrator Kristie LaPlante expressed concern over New Hampshire HB 675 which passed the House in Concord last week. Among its provisions, until June 30, 2027, school budgets, less facilities acquisition and construction, could not be more than the previous year’s times the average of the previous five years’ Consumer Price Index.
After that time, school budgets, less facilities acquisition and construction, would be capped at the average budget of the previous five years or the previous year’s budget times the average percentage change in the number of students. Overriding those provisions would require a two-thirds majority vote among district residents.
LaPlante offered an example of this application.
“If we got $25,000 per student, and lost four students from the district, it would cut our aid by $100,000,” she said, adding that a flaw in this calculation is that losing one student each from four different classes doesn’t mean that cutting teachers from those classes to cut the $100,000 would be practical.
“In our district, every dollar counts. We can’t cut unless we want to end up like Jaffrey-Rindge,” she said, referring to the March 11 vote to pass a budget that had been slashed $3 million during the district’s deliberative session.
During the public comment session of the meeting, Lyndeborough resident Adam Lavallee said that the bill represents overreach from Concord in terms of local control.
In other news, the board welcomed Paul White, an at-large member from Lyndeborough, and voted to re-elect Dennis Golding as chair and Brianne Lavallee as vice chair. Board member Geoffrey Allen offered himself as vice chair, but did not garner as many votes as Lavallee.
“Brianne will do a great job as vice chair,” Allen said Wednesday.