Holton Public Schools warn of data breach
HOLTON (KSNT) - USD 336 is warning families of a recent data breach of the districts Student Information System.
Thursday, Jan. 8, Holton Public Schools USD 366 posted on social media that PowerSchool notified the district on Jan. 8 of a widespread data breach. According to PowerSchool, data breaches across the nation happened in December 2024, and is now contained, but may have affected employees and/or students and their families data. According to PowerSchool's website, it monitors 10,000 servers 24/7.
"Holton is serious about protecting the security and privacy of your data," USD 336 Superintendent Trevor Ashcraft wrote in a letter to families and staff. "This breach not only violated our expectations for district vendors; it also violates board policy and Kansas law."
USD 336 has limited information about the breach, and is waiting for additional guidance from PowerSchool officials, according to the post. The school states it is doing its best to learn more and will notify families directly if and when information about how this impacts families, their data or next steps.
Since Holton schools switched to single sign-on Google credentials in 2022, no student PowerSchool passwords were breached, so student accounts should remain protected. According to the post, parent accounts do not have a single sign-on and their passwords are stored on PowerSchool. As a result, USD 336 will force a password reset for all parents.
If you have any questions after reading the letter, please email Samantha Miller (s.miller@holtonks.net) or call the district office at 785-364-3650.
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