A ransomware incident at Minersville Area School District in eastern Pennsylvania prompted officials to shut down their computer network and close schools Tuesday while specialists investigate and restore systems.
Minersville Area School District said in an email to parents that security tools detected attempts to install malware on some computers earlier Monday, prompting administrators to take the network offline, bring in outside cybersecurity specialists and cancel classes for all district schools on Tuesday, Dec. 16, according to local outlet Skook News. Officials said cyber investigations are “methodical” and will take time.
Classes were canceled Tuesday for students at the Junior/Senior High School, Elementary Center and Llewellyn, but after-school activities were scheduled to continue. Bus service was expected to operate on a normal schedule for students who attend regional technical, cooperative and alternative programs such as the Schuylkill Technology Center and Intermediate Unit schools, and those students were told to report as usual.
Minersville Area School District, based in Minersville, Pennsylvania, serves about 1,050 students across three schools in Schuylkill County.
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The district confirmed to families that the event involved ransomware, which encrypts files and demands payment for decryption. The district said it notified law enforcement and had been advised not to share certain technical or investigative details publicly.
At this stage of the investigation, the district said it does not know whether student, parent or staff information was accessed or affected. Determining the impact on stored data is a priority, but officials said it is too early to provide specifics.
The district said it first learned of the cybersecurity issue on Monday, Dec. 15, and plans to bring systems back in a “controlled and secure manner” as the investigation and remediation continue.
A Facebook post on the district’s public page Monday night told families that schools would be closed Tuesday and directed parents and guardians to check their email for more details, but it did not mention the cybersecurity or ransomware incident.
Minersville’s shutdown comes amid a string of disruptive K-12 cyber incidents this fall. Zion Elementary School District 6 in Illinois closed schools and offices for two days after a cybersecurity incident that may have compromised district servers, while Halifax County Public Schools in Virginia lost campus internet when systems displayed a “Qilin ransomware” message and the Qilin gang later claimed the attack. In Nebraska, Kearney Public Schools kept classes in session but operated for days without phones, email or other digital tools after a network-compromising cyberattack, which the Interlock ransomware group later listed on its leak site even as district officials said they had not received a ransom demand.
District leaders in Minersville have not said how long in-person classes might be disrupted or when more information about any data exposure will be available. Families have been urged to monitor official district communications for updates on operations and the investigation.
