March 1, 2025
Dear Maeser community,
As we initially shared on January 10, 2025, PowerSchool experienced a data breach in late December 2024 that impacted student and staff data across hundreds of school districts nationally and internationally, including Maeser.
The breach resulted in unauthorized access to data stored within our SIS. For Maeser families, the compromised information included:
Student Data: Names, addresses, birthdates, and school and state ID numbers.
Staff Data: Names and CACTUS ID numbers.
Additional Information: In a few isolated cases, Social Security Numbers (SSNs) were also affected (our team is reaching out to these individuals personally).
What Is Being Done
Since learning of the incident, PowerSchool has taken several steps to address the situation, including:
- Engaging Experian to provide complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services to all impacted individuals, regardless of whether sensitive information such as SSNs was involved.
- Collaborating with a data recovery company to assess whether compromised data has been shared or sold. At this time, there is no evidence that the data has been posted on the dark web or otherwise misused.
- Implementing enhanced security measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.
What You Need to Do
PowerSchool is currently sending out direct email notifications to individuals whose contact information is available, with instructions on enrolling in these complimentary services. Even if you do not receive an email, you can proactively sign up for identity protection (and credit monitoring for those 18 and over) by May 30, 2025.
For detailed information on how to enroll, please visit PowerSchool’s Security Page.
Additional Support for Affected Individuals
Individuals whose Social Security Numbers were compromised will receive a separate communication with more specific guidance. These individuals are encouraged to take additional precautions, including:
- Reviewing credit reports regularly at AnnualCreditReport.com.
- Placing a fraud alert or credit freeze on credit files with the major credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion) – more information about this is available on PowerSchool’s Security Page.
- Monitoring financial statements for any unauthorized activity.
Our Commitment to You
We understand that this situation may be concerning, and we are committed to supporting our community through this process. Please reach out to us directly at info@maeserprep.org if you have any questions or need assistance.
Thank you for your continued patience and understanding.
Maeser Administration
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January 10, 2025
Dear Maeser community,
On Tuesday, January 7, 2025, PowerSchool informed our leadership team that they experienced a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to certain PowerSchool SIS customer data. Unfortunately, they have confirmed that some of the information involved belongs to some of Maeser’s families and educators, along with data at hundreds of other school districts nationally and internationally.
PowerSchool informed us that the data involved primarily includes parent and student contact information with data elements such as name and address information, birthdates, and school and state ID numbers. The affected data does not include social security numbers (Maeser does not collect or store SSNs for students). Across their worldwide customer base, they have determined that for a portion of individuals, some personally identifiable information (PII), such as medical information, was impacted. They are working with urgency to complete their investigation and determine whether PII belonging to our students was included.
PowerSchool has already implemented enhanced security measures to prevent similar incidents, and we will be evaluating our own security procedures to determine where additional cybersecurity enhancements should be implemented.
We take this incident seriously and are committed to protecting our community’s data. We are actively working with PowerSchool and our legal team to evaluate exposure and enact a response plan. More information and resources (including credit monitoring or identity protection services if applicable) will be provided to you as it becomes available.
Thank you for your patience and understanding.
Maeser Administration