Union County Public Schools affected by NC student information system data breach

Union County Public Schools says it’s among North Carolina districts affected by a breach in the state’s student information system, which resulted in unauthorized access to student and teacher data.

The breach occurred in the PowerSchool information system, the News & Observer reported. PowerSchool is the data storage and information system used across the state’s public school system. It became aware of a nationwide cybersecurity incident involving student and teacher data Dec. 28. PowerSchool notified NCDPI the afternoon of Jan. 7.

NC officials say all data is “contained” and the system is currently secure for use.

But the breach may have resulted in “inadvertent exposure of personally identifiable information,” Union County schools wrote in an email to parents Wednesday evening.

UCPS officials noted the data stored in the system did not include social security numbers or any other financial information.

The breach began Dec. 19, when the credentials of a PowerSchool contract employee were compromised, NCDPI told The Observer.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools officials said they are aware of the breach but have not yet confirmed whether CMS data was impacted.

South Carolina districts affected

The South Carolina Department of Education announced several districts in the state also were affected by the breach.

“This was an international incident over which the state and local districts had no control,” the department announced Wednesday in a media release.

The department said it’s still working to determine the extent of the breach.

Lancaster County School District was notified that it was one of the districts whose data was compromised, district officials announced Thursday.

“Lancaster County School District was breached on December 22, 2024,” the district announced on its website. “We were notified of the breach on the evening of January 7, 2025.”

This developing story will be updated.

This story was originally published January 9, 2025 at 10:26 AM.

Rebecca Noel

The Charlotte Observer

Rebecca Noel reports on education for The Charlotte Observer. She’s a native of Houston, Texas, and graduated from Rice University. She later received a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri. When she’s not reporting, she enjoys reading, running and frequenting coffee shops around Charlotte.