NB School Was Target of a Cyber Security Breach

By Thomas Schmitt

It was revealed at the Northern Bedford County School District August Board of Directors meeting that the district had a computer security incident in which they were the target of a cyber breach and ransomware infection by a highly sophisticated cyber-criminal group.

The district believes the threat came through a virtual private network. The school installed a new state-of-the-art firewall, reconfigured servers, and recreated user accounts, and all staff and student passwords were reset.

The district security budget was tripled. There was a review of the Health and Safety Plan for the 2024/25 school year which has to be done every six months because NBC still receives ESSER grant monies.

The board accepted the resignation of Hannah Hutzell as an elementary teacher effective July 17, 2024. Onji Boyd was hired as an elementary second-grade teacher at a starting salary of $44,750 for the 2024/25 school year.

Other hirings included: Mike Brode, assistant golf coordinator at a salary not to exceed $1,000, and Andrew Foor and Kevin Brennan as assistant junior high football coaches at $640. 

It was announced that all bus driving positions were filled for the 2024/25 school year, but middle school principal, Kendra Pritchett, stated teachers or administrators were filling some of these positions. Hence, there are still gaps, and drivers are still needed.

It was also announced that Dr. Duane Dilling was approved as the school physician and Dr. Kurtz as the school dentist. The application for emergency permits was approved for day-to-day and long-term substitutes for qualified individuals. 

In building matters, approval was given to Mervac Plumbing for the replacement of water pumps at the elementary for $8,400 as an unbudgeted expenditure. It was noted that the water pumps were only one and a half years old.

Approval was also given to Corle Construction Inc. for the erection of an additional door and wall into the Wellness Building for $15,844, which will be paid from the Capital Reserve Fund.

Permission was also granted for Marc-Service Inc. for cleaning 37-year-old hot water coils in the air handlers and testing and balance of air handlers in the elementary building for $6,000 to be paid from budgetary reserve. 

Superintendent Todd Beatty announced that construction of the Wellness Building was on schedule and slated to be completed by mid-November.

Head Start, Pre-Kindergarten, and Kindergarten orientations for students and parents were held on August 14. Elementary Meet and Greet is scheduled for Tuesday, August 27 from 6:00 P.M. to 7:30 P.M. for students in grades 1-5.

Kindergarten and K4 parents had the opportunity to meet their child’s teacher during the summer orientation. August 19 and 20 were teacher in-service days with Wednesday, August 21 being the first student day of school.

The next school board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 10 in Room 136 of Northern Bedford High School at 6:00 P.M. It was also noted that Sudden Cardiac Arrest Prevention and Concussion Training Course are now mandated coaching requirements.