(The Center Square) – Highline Public Schools students are returning to class after missing three days due to a recent cyber attack that the district is still investigating.
An unauthorized user gained access to certain systems in the district’s network on Sept. 7. The Highline Public Schools Digital Transformation team took steps to limit the unauthorized activity immediately after, but canceled classes and after-school activities as a precautionary measure.
Highline students in kindergarten through 12th grade started school on Thursday after school was closed Sept. 9-11. Preschool students will have their first day of school on Sept. 16.
Athletics also resumed on Thursday and all other school clubs and activities will resume on a case-to-case basis.
Internet access is still not available to students during class. The district said that it is working to develop a plan for the Highline Virtual Academy and the Highline Virtual Elementary program, which rely on internet connection.
The limited system access will also cause student transportation to take longer as the district will use paper copies of routes to pick up and drop off students.
“We want to be clear, this incident involved our digital network, and not the physical safety of our facilities,” the district stated in a social media post. “Student safety measures remain in place.”
Protective measures taken by the district include disconnecting the network from internet access, limiting its phone systems. As a result, access to certain school systems and applications in the operation of schools became limited.
Students may not be pleased to learn that the last day of school for the 2024-2025 school year has moved from June 18 to June 24. Highline Public Schools has eight emergency make-up days and will have to make up the three days of school closures on May 27, June 20 and June 23.
The district said that date may change in the future if there are additional missed days of school.
The investigation is still ongoing.
Highline Public Schools serves approximately 17,800 students within the City of Burien, and parts of Sea-Tac, Des Moines and unincorporated King County.
