Durham District School Board (DDSB) yesterday announced that it is working with external consultants to help determine the scope and extent of the cyber incident that has impacted the DDSB network.
“We ask for your patience as this investigation is complex and will take time to complete. We are committed to sharing more information on this topic, including if there are any privacy impacts,” said a letter to parents and guardians from Norah Marsh, Director of Education.
“In the meantime, our IT Services team continues to prioritize restoring critical systems to support school and business operations. This work has been ongoing since Saturday and will continue until we are able to restore all services,” she added.
New Updates as of November 28
- DDSB@Home will not be open on Tuesday. Unfortunately, much like when a snow day can impact in-person schools, this cyber incident is impacting DDSB@Home. We continue to explore ways to try and address this challenge.
- The previously scheduled literacy test (OSSLT) will not be taking place this week.
- We are working to ensure payroll is not interrupted for staff.
DDSB has created a public Frequently Asked Questions document that will be updated regularly and will be providing further updates if there is new information to share about the incident or how it is restoring full school operations.
“There have been some questions about student safety protocols. We have asked all parents/guardians to send in a hard copy of emergency contact information with their child. While schools are not able to receive calls, they are able to make calls and regular protocols are in place at schools for calling those parents and/or emergency services. The one student safety protocol not in place at this time is the safe arrival program. Attendance will continue to be manually taken and parents/guardians will not be notified should their child be absent. We recognize that this may have an impact on families’ morning routines and that in some cases parents may wish to alter their drop-off practices,” said the letter.
“We recognize and understand how disruptive this cyber incident has been to our staff, families and community members. Thank you for your patience and understanding as we work to restore systems and support the over 75,000 students and approximately 14,000 staff across the DDSB. We will continue to share updates on our website and social media as more information becomes available,” it added.