The Upper Canada District School Board (UCDSB) has confirmed that a significant network disruption, ongoing since January 5, is the result of a cyber incident. 

In a communication to parents and guardians, the UCDSB announced that police have been contacted and that the school board is collaborating with cybersecurity experts to assess the situation and restore services. 

The schools affected are Russell Public School and Rockland Public School. 

Despite the disruption, UCDSB schools will remain open, and classes will continue as scheduled. However, the school board noted that schools will remain offline until network access can be securely restored. 

At this time, there is no evidence to suggest that personal data has been compromised. The UCDSB has committed to keeping staff and families informed as new information becomes available. 

The initial disruption, reported on Sunday, Jan. 5, affected the entire UCDSB network, disrupting operations across all schools. Although schools were set to open as planned, the disruption resulted in no internet access, preventing staff from using email and internal platforms such as My Family Room. 

As of Tuesday night, Jan. 7, the UCDSB had not updated the status of the board’s connectivity problems. 

Parents were advised to report any absences or urgent communications to schools by phone, as email and social media platforms were inaccessible. 

While the return to school following the winter break was not as expected, the UCDSB expressed optimism that students were able to resume in-person learning despite the offline status.