News Summary
The Memphis-Shelby County Schools District has filed a lawsuit against PowerSchool following a data breach affecting nearly 500,000 individuals, alleging negligence and breach of contract. The breach compromised sensitive personal information of students and staff, prompting MSCS to seek damages and improved cybersecurity measures. Concerns regarding PowerSchool’s response time and the potential sale of stolen data on the dark web further highlight the risks involved in partnerships with software providers in the education sector.
Memphis, TN – The Memphis-Shelby County Schools District (MSCS) has initiated legal action against PowerSchool, a software provider, in federal court following a significant data breach that has affected nearly 500,000 students. This lawsuit, which alleges negligence, breach of contract, and false advertising by PowerSchool, stems from a cyberattack that took place in December 2024.
According to the lawsuit, the data breach compromised sensitive personal information belonging to at least 487,267 current and former students and 23,903 staff and faculty members. The types of data exposed include names, addresses, Social Security numbers, email addresses, medical information, grades, GPAs, bus stop information, student portal passwords, and phone numbers. The breach reportedly took place after hackers accessed PowerSchool’s systems, which serves more than 60 million individuals globally, including students, parents, and school personnel.
MSCS has raised concerns about PowerSchool’s response time, noting that it took the company two weeks to inform the district about the breach, with the notification coming on December 28, 2024. The lawsuit further alleges that PowerSchool made a ransom payment to the hackers, which raises alarms that stolen personal information may end up for sale on the dark web.
Over the last 12 years, MSCS has invested more than $21 million in PowerSchool services, citing their critical role in handling various administrative tasks related to student education. Since the 2017-18 school year, PowerSchool has served as the primary information system for the district, managing everything from student registration to grade management.
The lawsuit highlights the assertion that PowerSchool failed to implement necessary cybersecurity measures, which could have potentially prevented the breach and its severe consequences. As a result of this negligence, MSCS is seeking both compensatory and punitive damages. Additionally, the district is demanding measures for enhanced cybersecurity protocols and independent monitoring to secure sensitive data against future breaches.
This incident has raised broader concerns regarding cybersecurity across the education sector, with other school districts across the country also taking legal action against PowerSchool for similar breaches. The growing number of lawsuits suggests a deteriorating trust among educational institutions in PowerSchool’s ability to safeguard their data effectively. As the education community becomes increasingly vigilant about data privacy issues, the repercussions of this breach may lead to a reevaluation of partnerships with software providers.
PowerSchool has issued a statement regarding the ongoing litigation, expressing a commitment to resolve the issue, although it refrained from providing further details due to the active nature of the lawsuit.
As the legal process unfolds, both MSCS and PowerSchool are being closely watched by other districts and educational bodies. The outcomes of this case could have far-reaching implications for how educational institutions handle sensitive information and select technology vendors in the future.
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Additional Resources
- Fox 13 Memphis
- Local Memphis
- Commercial Appeal
- PR Newswire
- WREG
- Wikipedia: Cybersecurity
- Encyclopedia Britannica: Cybersecurity
- Google Search: Data Breach Lawsuits
- Google Scholar: Cybersecurity in Education
- Google News: Data Breaches in Schools
