Cyberattack closes local schools for three days

By Jane Kitchen Collegian Reporter

Schools across Hillsdale and Jackson reopened Thursday after three days of closures.

A ransomware attack shut down their internet systems over the weekend. Jackson County Intermediate School District Superintendent Kevin Oxley said in a Nov. 16 update that classes will resume, but students will still have limited access to certain technological resources.

“Our number one priority was to get kids back in school, and we’re thrilled to be able to do that tomorrow,” Oxley said. “While our restoration efforts continue, we prioritized bringing essential systems back online in order to allow us to safely resume operations and reopen school buildings across Jackson and Hillsdale counties."

Oxley first announced the closure on Sunday night in a statement informing parents of a system outage that affected the Hillsdale and Jackson county schools.

“The outage affected critical operating systems in the district, including but not limited to heating, telephones, and classroom technology,” Oxley said in the statement.

Oxley said the district noticed suspicious activity over the weekend and preemptively shut down its systems to prevent further damage. He also asked students to avoid using school-issued devices until the issue is resolved.

The ransomware attack also closed Hillsdale County charter school Will Carleton Academy.