UPDATE: KPS announced Monday night that all technology systems have been fully restored, and school will resume as normal on Tuesday.

“We appreciate the patience and teamwork of our staff, students, and families as we worked through this process,” said KPS Superintendent Jason Mundorf. “We’re thankful for everyone’s cooperation and support while our technology operations team worked to ensure everything is back online safely.”

KEARNEY, Neb. - Kearney Public Schools is dealing with a cybersecurity attack that has shut down its district network — but officials say classes will continue as scheduled on Monday.

The district said the attack happened Friday, and staff have been working to restore systems throughout the weekend. For now, KPS has no access to phones, email, or computers, meaning all communication will need to happen in person.

In a letter sent to parents, the district said it would follow up with families who have concerns about how the attack might affect safety protocols.

Superintendent Jason Mundorf said the district would not put students or staff in harm’s way for one day of instruction and that all safety measures remain fully functional.

--- KPS Letter to Parents ---

Parents,


The announcement regarding our cyber attack has understandably raised concerns among some of our families regarding district emergency preparedness. I want to reassure you that, despite the cyber attack on our network,none of our safety protocols have been compromised.

  • Our Centegix rapid response system remains fully operational using external Wi-Fi.
  • Our fire suppression systems are functioning as normal and are independent of our district network.
  • Our secure doors remain locked and operational.


We would never jeopardize the safety of our students and staff for a single day of instruction.

The following systems are all on cloud-based servers and were not breached to compromise student or staff data.

  • Student information system
  • Payroll
  • Finance
  • School lunch/Bearcat Diner
  • Any of credit-card point of sale products.


Please note: This was NOT ransomware. It was a compromise of our network. We have not been asked for ransom.

The ongoing network outage does create some logistical challenges. Most notably, our student information system is currently down, so teachers are taking attendance manually. Attendance records will be submitted to the office and entered into the system once our normal operations resume.

Important Note About Absences:

  • If your child is absent from school tomorrow, please be sure to send a written note with them when they return, verifying the reason for their absence. This is important for our manual attendance records during this outage.
  • Additionally, because of the outage:If you need to pick your child up early(e.g., for an appointment), please be aware that it may take us longer than usual to locate them within the school as students move from classroom to classroom during the day. especially at the high school and middle schools.
  • To help us expedite the process, we recommend asking your child for a copy of their schedule and keeping it handy over the next few days.


We are hopeful to return to normal system functionality by Tuesday.We understand the concerns this situation brings, and we appreciate your patience and partnership. Our primary focus right now is restoring our systems and maintaining a safe, functional learning environment for our students.

Respectfully,
Dr. Jason Mundorf
Superintendent