Cyber Breach: Activities Cancelled At Freehold Twp. Schools Tuesday

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, NJ — While the township school district is investigating the cause of a cybersecurity attack that closed schools and district offices on Monday, an advisory was sent out at 9 p.m. Monday that only before-school and after-school activities are cancelled Tuesday.

The district confirmed school was in session Tuesday.

However, "All before school activities and after school activities are cancelled on Tuesday, January 30, 2024. YMCA Before School Care and After School Care will be operating as typical," the district said on its website Monday night.

The district informed the public Sunday night about the incident and the technical issues it caused, prompting the closure.

"There is an ongoing investigation so we don’t have any information to give at this time," said Board of Education President Michael Amoroso Monday.

When reached Monday night, he referred Patch to Superintendent of Schools Neal Dickstein, whom he said made a statement.

The district said in the Sunday advisory that is has retained an outside IT expert to "contain, remediate and fully restore" operations.

According to a Government Accountability Office study, in recent years, cyberattacks on K-12 schools have increased, disrupting educational instruction and school operations.

"The scale and number of attacks increased during COVID-19 as more schools moved to remote learning and increased their reliance on IT services," the study said.

The attacks peaked in 2020, and in 2021 decreased to a reported at 647,000, the report said.

The disruption in learning - let alone the hacking of personal information - is a major concern for government officials, the report said.

The government's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) put out a report in January of 2023 on this topic, along with recommendations for districts.

Among its recommendations was that "Cybersecurity risk management must be elevated as a top priority for administrators, superintendents, and other leaders at every K–12 institution."

Meanwhile, the school board put out a notice that its board retreat meeting scheduled for Jan. 31 has been cancelled.

The next Board Of Education meeting is Feb. 6, according to the district website, at the Barkalow Middle School at 7 p.m. The board agenda can be found here the Friday evening prior to the meeting.

The affected district is the elementary district. Freehold Township High School is part of the Freehold Regional High School District and was not affected.

The Freehold Township school district has eight schools - five elementary schools, two middle school and an early childhood learning center. It serves nearly 3,500 students.

Patch will update the story as more information becomes available.