A reported cyberattack prevented some vendors from doing business with families using Arizona’s Empowerment Scholarship Account program, prompting a state senator to question the platform’s security.
State Affairs reported the disruption Wednesday, citing concerns state Sen. Shawnna Bolick raised in a Monday letter to the state schools superintendent.
“This raises serious questions about the security of the platform,” Bolick wrote, according to the report. She also questioned whether cybersecurity incidents in other states could affect Arizona students and families.
The program, administered by the Arizona Department of Education, lets families use public education funds for private school tuition, tutoring, curricula and supplies, including education at home.
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The department listed 108,688 students enrolled as of Monday.
In a separate phishing incident involving South Carolina’s school voucher program, officials restricted accounts and disbursements while checking banking information, delaying payments to schools and education businesses. No connection to the reported Arizona disruption has been established.
The affected operator and attack method remain unidentified, and possible student-data exposure is unresolved. The number of affected vendors and families, when the disruption began and whether transactions have fully resumed also remain unclear.
