POWERSCHOOL INCIDENT FAQ

What happened?

On December 28, 2024, PowerSchool, a third-party service provider used by Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board, became aware of a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to certain PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS) information.

On Tuesday, January 7th, 2025, PowerSchool notified us of the incident and that personal information of our students and educators may have been impacted. 

Who was affected?

Many public boards and private schools across North America who use PowerSchool SIS were affected by this incident.

What data was compromised?

We have worked with PowerSchool to determine that the following Board information was affected:

Student Information:

For all students who have been enrolled in Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board since the 2015-2016 school year, the information affected includes:

  • Home and/or mailing address information
  • Graduation school, date and year
  • Full name
  • Date of birth
  • Gender
  • Current grade level
  • Home phone number
  • Ontario Education Number (OEN)
  • Student number
  • Initial enrollment school
  • Most recent enrollment school
  • Board entry and exit date
  • Most recent home room class name
  • Doctor name and phone number

For a small number of students from other school boards who have been enrolled in eLearning courses offered by Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board, the same data was also affected.

For some students the following additional information was also affected:

  • Medical alert notes
  • Guardianship notes related to custodial arrangements
  • Guardian email addresses
  • Notes related to discipline 
  • Emergency contact names and phone numbers
  • Parent names
  • Notes regarding reasons for transferring between schools
  • Other notes

This incident did not result in the compromise of any of the following information:

Financial information, health assessment information, medical records, or student academic grades.

Educator and Administrative Staff Information:

For all board staff with PowerSchool SIS or PowerTeacher Pro accounts (teachers, SSPs, ECEs, administrative assistants, principals, and other board support staff) who have worked in Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board since the 2020-2021 school year, the information affected includes: 

  • Full name, title, employee ID, school(s) of employment, and board email address.
  • For some staff, the following additional information was also affected:
  • Home address information, home phone number, and home room class.
  • Please note that sensitive educator information, like financial information, was not compromised. 

What steps are you taking to prevent this from happening again?

Although this cyber incident did not take place in a Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board environment, as part of our own investigative process, we are working with industry experts and using this incident as an opportunity to review our vendor retention practices and improve how we protect personal information.

Where can I learn more about the incident?

PowerSchool has posted an FAQ on their website to share information, which includes steps they have taken to address this incident and protect student, family and educator information moving forward. 

Visit: https://www.powerschool.com/security/sis-incident/  

Did the Board notify the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner?

Yes, the Board has notified and is working with the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner in responding to this incident. While you are entitled to file a complaint, the IPC has advised that it is not necessary as they are already investigating the matter. You can visit the IPC’s website at www.ipc.on.ca.

Was any credit card or banking information involved in this incident?

No. Both PowerSchool and the Board’s own internal investigation can confirm that there is no evidence of any credit card or banking information being compromised.

Why were you keeping my student data if I was no longer enrolled in the board?

We keep information about former students in accordance with provincial requirements under the Education Act and to respond to former student information requests. We are taking this opportunity to assess our records retention practices to ensure that we are only keeping what is necessary to conduct the Board’s business.   

I attended Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board many years ago. Was my information impacted?

Our PowerSchool SIS stores data for students who attended a Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board school from 2015-2016 onwards. If you were a Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board student who left or graduated from our board prior to this date, your information was not impacted as part of this incident.

Can I opt-out of PowerSchool?

Not at this time.  Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board is using this incident to review the information practices of all of our vendors.

Is the Board changing vendors?

Not at this time.

Were all PowerSchool products impacted?

No. Only PowerSchool SIS was impacted by this incident. Other PowerSchool tools, like SchoolMessenger and SmartFind, were not impacted.

I have additional questions not addressed by these FAQs.

If you have additional questions, please contact us at . 

CREDIT MONITORING AND IDENTITY PROTECTION

PowerSchool is offering two years of complimentary identity protection services, provided by Experian, to students and educators whose information was involved. For involved students and educators who have reached the age of majority, in addition to Experian’s identity protection services, PowerSchool is also offering two years of complimentary credit monitoring services provided by TransUnion.

To be clear, all students and educators, past and present, can sign up for Experian’s services. Only adults can sign up for TransUnion’s services. PowerSchool is not offering these services to parents, guardians or emergency contacts.

Since the incident, PowerSchool has monitored for signs of information misuse. They have reported that they are not aware at this time of any identity theft attributable to this incident. That said, we encourage all to sign up for these complimentary services. 

PowerSchool has provided instructions for signing up for these services here, and we reproduce the instructions below, as well.

PowerSchool’s online notice, linked above, suggests that Social Insurance Number was affected for some Boards. For Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board, 2 students had a record containing a Social Insurance Number. Social Insurance Numbers were not affected for any staff members.

Offer: Experian Identity Protection Services – Available to All Involved Students and Educators

Enrollment Instructions for Experian IdentityWorks

  • Ensure that you enroll by May 30, 2025 (Your code will not work after this date at 5:59 UTC)
  • Visit the Experian IdentityWorks website to enroll: 
  • Provide your activation code: MPRT987RFK
  • For questions about the product or help with enrollment, please email 

Details Regarding Your Experian IdentityWorks Membership

A credit card is not required for enrollment in Experian IdentityWorks. You can contact Experian immediately regarding any fraud issues, and have access to the following features once you enroll in Experian IdentityWorks:

  • Internet Surveillance: Technology searches the web, chat rooms & bulletin boards 24/7 to identify trading or selling of your personal information on the Dark Web.
  • Fraud Remediation Tips: Self-help tips are available on your member center.

Offer: TransUnion Credit Monitoring Services – Available to Involved Students and Educators Who have Reached the Age of Majority in their Applicable Province or Territory

Enrollment Instructions for TransUnion myTrueIdentity

Details Regarding your myTrueIdentity Membership

Upon completion of the online enrollment process, you will have access to the following TransUnion myTrueIdentity features:

  • Unlimited online access to your TransUnion Canada credit report, updated daily. A credit report is a snapshot of your financial history and one of the primary tools leveraged for determining credit-related identity theft or fraud.
  • Unlimited online access to your CreditVision® Risk credit score, updated daily. A credit score is a three-digit number calculated based on the information contained in your TransUnion Canada credit report at a particular point in time.
  • Credit monitoring, which provides you with email notifications to key changes on your TransUnion Canada credit report. In today’s virtual world, credit alerts are a powerful tool to help protect you against identity theft, enable quick action against potentially fraudulent activity and provide you with additional reassurance.
  • Access to online educational resources concerning credit management, fraud victim assistance and identity theft prevention.
  • Access to Identity Restoration agents who are available to assist you with questions about identity theft. In the unlikely event that you become a victim of fraud; a personal restoration specialist will help to resolve any identity theft.  This service includes up to $1,000,000 of expense reimbursement insurance.
  • Dark Web Monitoring, which monitors surface, social, deep, and dark websites for potentially exposed personal, identity and financial information and helps protect you against identity theft.

PowerSchool has provided a call centre to address questions regarding these services. If you have any questions or concerns about this notice, please call 833-918-7884, Monday through Friday, 8:00am through 8:00pm Central Time (excluding major US holidays). Please be prepared to provide engagement number B138905.

Should you have any questions for Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board about this notice, please do not hesitate to contact us at .