Linn-Mar schools’ phones, network down

MARION — A month after a cyberattack closed Cedar Rapids schools and compromised personal computerized information of its district employees, Linn-Mar Community Schools said it now is investigating the source of its phones going down and its computer systems being disrupted.

Linn-Mar Superintendent Shannon Bisgard wrote in a message to district staff Monday that visitors will be limited on school campuses until further notice as a third-party specialist works with the district to assess the impact and recover its systems as soon as possible.

He did not describe the issue in his message as the result of a cyberattack. Amy Adams, an FBI public affairs specialist, said the agency does not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation and would not say if it is aware of Linn-Mar’s network disturbance.

The Linn-Mar district has 1,200 staff who serve 8,000 students across 12 buildings. Students though ninth grade start school Aug. 23, and those in grades 10-12 start Aug. 24.

Some summer programs, including day care, teams and activities are allowed to enter district facilities on a case-by-case basis, Bisgard wrote. “Our network and phone systems are currently down, but our online registration system is still available,” he wrote.

School board President Brittania Morey said the board meeting will start as scheduled at 5 p.m. Monday.

Morey said she is meeting with the third-party group to guide the board and could not comment further.

Kevin Fry, Linn-Mar communications coordinator, said the district has no additional comments and did not respond to The Gazette whether any employee information was exposed from the system disruption.

The Cedar Rapids School Community District paused summer programming, letting 750 students off from summer school for a week, due to a cybersecurity breach over the Fourth of July holiday.

The breach, which the Cedar Rapids district has not publicly detailed or said whether it was asked to pay a ransom to hackers, caused personal information on its employees to be exposed.

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