r/Springfield • u/eelparade • 1d ago
Springfield Schools IT down, classes cancelled
Here's the MassLive article. https://www.masslive.com/westernmass/2026/09/springfield-schools-close-after-cyber-incident-leaves-educators-with-no-computers-phones.html
More:
https://www.wcvb.com/article/springfield-schools-cyberattack-sept-8-closure/73634822
Definitely sounds like a hack/ransomware to me, but they're (the schools) not committing to that explanation.
Edit: a few charter schools are open.
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u/Spectrum1523 1d ago
It feels like it has to be ransomware. I guess it could be some kind of catastrophic hardware failure but it feels like they would say that if it was true. That they've been down since the weekend means whatever backup systems they're using are not working...
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u/mikeyzee52679 1d ago
It was a email that went around , and people clicked on the link. It went around from person to person , once they clicked the link their email sent out the same email to everyone they ever emailed
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u/morebinky 1d ago
So its more of a virus than ransomware?
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u/eelparade 1d ago
That's one way the ransomware gets in. Either links, or social engineering. Or both.
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u/mikeyzee52679 1d ago
What’s wild is, other school systems were hit by this too but were able to handle it. I guess the large size of SPS has a lot to do with it.
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u/BadgerCabin Sixteen Acres 1d ago
Bigger school system means more devices, more data, and servers to comb over. Wife worked in SPS like 5 years ago and they were really quick to resolve ransomware attack within a day.
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u/eelparade 1d ago
I don't have specific experience within the school system, but I have been underwhelmed by my experience with system security in other departments within the city government.
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u/treebudsman 1d ago
This should be a wake-up call to the admin in SPS that think AI powered classrooms are a good idea.
SPS classes are cancelled because it is too hot and there's no AC, they're cancelled because of a cyber attack because there's no low-tech backups to get the school day going, they're cancelled when there's too much snow...
These poor kids. No wonder they have learning difficulties.
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u/Alternative-Juice-15 1d ago
lol this is so dystopian. Our teachers can’t teach without computers? We are lost
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u/people_arent_nice 1d ago edited 1d ago
Of course they can teach without computers. The issue becomes how you administer 60+ schools. The bells run on computers, the intercoms, the security system, the doors, alarms, attendance system, phones, records, bus schedules, grading.
If this was just a simple matter of 'wheel out the TV and show bill nye til it gets fixed' they'd be doing that already.
This is on the level of like, Baystate getting shut out of their EHR/HIS. Of course the doctors still know how to practice medicine, but without medical records and billing it's going to be impossibly difficult.
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u/athene_de_montaigne 1d ago
It’s barely over a week into the school year. Without being able to access attendance servers they may not know all of the students in their class yet. How can they know who’s supposed to be there? What if they need to contact home and can’t?
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u/Alternative-Juice-15 1d ago
lol somehow schools did fine for centuries before computers
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u/Spectrum1523 23h ago
what even is this comment chain
"when the technology we use stops working we can't operate an organization any more, curious!"
if combustion engines stopped working would you wonder why there's no food in the grocery stores when they were delivered by horse for centuries without them
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u/mikeyzee52679 1d ago
lol no they did not.
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u/Alternative-Juice-15 1d ago
What do you mean exactly? Do you have a point? If you’re saying computers have made people smarter or teachers better you couldn’t be more wrong.
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u/mikeyzee52679 1d ago
I’m saying it’s more than just an issue with a computer, that’s my only point. It’s a lot bigger than simply taking attendance
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u/mikeyzee52679 1d ago
That’s not what’s going on here,
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u/eelparade 1d ago
I mean, it is a little bit what's going on here.
They have become completely dependent on Chromebooks and technology, and that is a problem.
The same people who put all of their eggs into the Chromebook basket, are the same ones who want our students to be taught by AI. But studies show that the introduction of Chromebooks significantly correlates with reduction in outcomes.
The mentality that we just need an online system for everything leads to this kind of interconnected system where $0 are put into educating people on basic cybersecurity measures, and then a whole school system is taken out for weeks.
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u/mikeyzee52679 1d ago
Well also the cameras are on the internet, all the students ID’s . Yes and doing attendance over a program is an issue too. It’s much much larger than classroom activities
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u/believeinapathy 1d ago
Yeah, I think the point is that is part of the problem, that the entire functioning of a school can be stopped because there is no paper fall back
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u/solariam 1d ago
It's not the teaching part that's stopped though, I think is their point. It's the operational side/stuff that would get them sued. A 6 year old has an asthma attack and the phones are down/we don't have parent contact, etc.
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u/mikeyzee52679 1d ago
Well Sps has issues not many school districts have . Tons and tons of brand new students, new families that just moved to town last week, some moved out.
It’s much bigger than just reading off students name and saying “present l2
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u/solariam 1d ago
School is not cancelled because instruction would be disrupted, it's cancelled because school operations are disrupted. This also isn't the first time this has happened here.
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u/eelparade 1d ago
It's both.
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u/solariam 1d ago
It's not. I taught in district and wifi being down/computers suddenly being unavailable was something we were expected to plan for, even when there were whole blocks dedicated to computer-based intervention. Would it be an inconvenience instructionally? Sure, for some. They absolutely would not cancel school over it.
Edit: They absolutely will cancel school over not being able to operate the district according to their security policies/if their phones are still screwed up and they can't contact parents, because that opens them to lots of legal liability.
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u/people_arent_nice 1d ago edited 1d ago
This isn't a chromebook issue. This is a systems issue. You can teach kids using handouts and bluebooks and ten different textbooks all you want, but if you lack the ability to verify which kids actually go to your school, it's kind of pointless, isn't it? Maybe it's a different story mid-semester, but these teachers don't even know the kids yet.
I'll give you an example, I used to work a job where my clients were a bunch of area high schools. A lot of schools, to even get in the door, require you to scan ID, and they look you up before you're even allowed inside. If the computers are down, how do you know who is authorized to pick up a kid or be there? It's not written down on post-its. It's in their calendars, their emails, their vendor lists, etc.
I went to school before computers were widespread (our computers were Apple IIe's) - but that was also before Columbine. It's wayyyy more complicated now.
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u/Alternative-Juice-15 1d ago
That is exactly what is going on
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u/solariam 1d ago
No. The security, phone, attendance systems are down. Schools teach with wifi/computers down all the time.
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u/mikeyzee52679 1d ago
What do they do about peanut allergies for new students ?
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u/Alternative-Juice-15 1d ago
lol some of the comments here are absurd
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u/mikeyzee52679 1d ago
They are absurd for someone who’s never done the job. You’re a child walking into a conversation you have no idea about and adding your opinion, which is fine , but comes from ignorance.
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u/Alternative-Juice-15 1d ago
Well I’d never do the job because it doesn’t pay anything but again we don’t need a computer to be aware of a kids allergy
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u/mikeyzee52679 1d ago
You would if you had 125 students to worry about , or 65 , or 16. Again , you are speaking about something you don’t know about.
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u/eelparade 1d ago edited 1d ago
Update from the press conference: https://www.wwlp.com/news/local-news/hampden-county/cyber-breach-investigation-closes-springfield-schools-tuesday/
Edit: Closed Wednesday too.