Tyrrell County Schools is sharing an important update regarding a cybersecurity incident involving the PowerSchool Student Information System (“PowerSchool”), which has been used by North Carolina public schools since 2013.
On December 28, 2024, PowerSchool identified unauthorized access to student and teacher data beginning on December 19, 2024. This breach, caused by the compromised credentials of a contract employee, impacted data across PowerSchool’s global client base, affecting potentially millions of individuals, including students and staff in North Carolina.
We were informed on January 10, 2025, that data from Tyrrell County Schools was included in the breach. Although no student Social Security numbers were accessed, other information, such as medical, demographic, discipline-related alerts, student UIDs, and contact information, was compromised. For staff, phone numbers, email addresses, physical addresses, and UIDs were accessed. Additionally, 49 active staff members had their Social Security numbers exposed.
PowerSchool has assured stakeholders that the unauthorized access has been contained, the data was not shared, and it has been destroyed. They are collaborating with law enforcement to monitor for any further data exposure.
We want to emphasize that this incident was beyond the control of Tyrrell County Schools or the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (“NCDPI”). Neither entity had administrative access to the internal systems where the breach occurred. PowerSchool has taken responsibility for notifying affected individuals and ensuring compliance with all legal requirements.
Protecting the personal information of our students and staff remains a top priority for Tyrrell County Schools. We are working closely with NCDPI and PowerSchool to advocate for everyone impacted by this incident and to ensure transparency as we move forward.
For additional details, including ongoing updates, please visit PowerSchool’s website at https://www.powerschool.com/
Thank you for your understanding and support as we continue to address this matter. We will provide updates as new information becomes available.