The key facts

  • A cyber incident on Wednesday disrupted the online systems of Richmond Public Schools in Virginia
  • The safety of students and staff, according to the district, was not affected; schools remain open
  • The district is working with external cybersecurity experts and police; internet is still down, phones and cameras are working

What happened

On Wednesday a cyber incident disrupted the online systems of the Richmond Public Schools (RPS) district in the U.S. state of Virginia, the Anadolu news agency reported, citing ABC News. According to a statement from the district's superintendent, Jason Kamras, the incident did not affect the safety of students and staff.

How the district is responding

“Schools will remain open this week, and instruction will continue as we shift to a technology-free learning process”, the statement published on the RPS website said. The district thanked the community for its patience and flexibility, noting that some technology services may be temporarily unavailable. “Our priorities are supporting students and staff, understanding what happened, and safely restoring the affected systems,” Kamras said in a letter quoted by ABC News. According to him, the district is actively working with external cybersecurity specialists and law enforcement agenciesto understand the full scope of the incident, and will share updates as information is confirmed.

Scale of the disruptions

According to the local news site The Richmonder, which Anadolu cites, the incident affected phones and internet access. At the time of publication, internet access remained down, while office phones and video surveillance cameras were working. The nature of the incident and whether data was compromised are not specified in the reports — this information has not yet been disclosed.

Why it matters

The incident shows that a failure of digital systems directly affects the everyday learning process: the district had to urgently switch to technology-free instruction, shut down internet access, and rely on working office phones and cameras. For the families of RPS students and staff, this means classes continue while some services are temporarily unavailable, and the practical steps — bringing in external cybersecurity experts and involving law enforcement — have already been announced by the district itself. Nothing is yet known about the scale of the incident or its possible consequences for data.