Dear Families,
It is important to update you about a cyber incident experienced by the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board and Lakehead Public School Board involving the application: PowerSchool.
PowerSchool is an application used by TBCDSB and LPS along with many school boards across North America. PowerSchool is a widely used student information system (SIS) that helps schools manage student data like enrolment, grades, attendance, and schedules. It provides tools for teachers, administrators, and families, including portals for parents and students to track academic progress and attendance. PowerSchool is utilized by thousands of school organizations across our country and the United States.
On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, PowerSchool notified Lakehead Public Schools and Thunder Bay Catholic and other school boards in Ontario, and across North America, that they experienced a data breach on December 22, 2024.
PowerSchool, TBCDSB and LPS are investigating this breach. Our cybersecurity teams promptly activated our response plans, taking immediate steps to ensure that our critical systems remain operational.
At this point in time, we are still assessing the exact information that may have been accessed or exported from the application. PowerSchool has informed us that the data accessed by an unauthorized user has been deleted. If your personal information was compromised, we will inform you. The (IPC) Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has been informed of this breach. PowerSchool has confirmed that the application is secure and can continue to be used.
We understand that you may have questions as a result of this information, but we do not yet have more information to share at this time.
We will continue to update you as more information becomes available.
Thank you for your continued patience and understanding during this time,
– TBCDSB
