This is the first in a three-part series on cyber preparation and cyber resilience in Indiana schools. Can classrooms maintain essential student services if their technology systems become unavailable?
Indiana schools report taking steps to protect their digital systems from cyberattacks. But a plan to respond to an attack does not necessarily answer a question students, parents and educators may face when technology fails: Can a school keep operating?
Cybersecurity incidents affecting schools are becoming an increasingly urgent concern. Indiana K-12 schools filed 69 cybersecurity incident reports with the state in 2025, up from 27 in 2024, according to records obtained by WISH-TV’s I-Team 8. Schools are required to report cybersecurity incidents to the Indiana Office of Technology within 48 hours. As of May 14, another 40 incidents had been reported in 2026, according to the station’s reporting.
Recent incidents elsewhere illustrate what can happen when schools lose access to the systems they rely on.
In Springfield, Mass., Springfield Public Schools closed for four school days in September after officials classified a cyberattack as a districtwide Level 4 “severe” incident. The attack disrupted access to critical systems, including student medical records. Without access to those records, nurses could not retrieve information needed to dispense medication or address students’ allergies and other medical needs, according to the district.
In Pennsylvania, the Indiana Area School District kept schools open after a cyber incident affected a local server and day-to-day operations were disrupted, including how students paid for lunch and a temporary lack of access to classroom desktop computers on Oct. 4.
Superintendent Robert Heinrich said in a letter to the community, “The top priority is making sure that information is protected, and interruptions to the educational process are minimized.”
The incidents produced different outcomes: one district closed schools after losing access to critical student health information, while another continued instruction despite disruptions to everyday operations.
Neither outcome alone establishes how prepared a school district is. But together, they raise a question for Indiana schools: What does preparedness mean when technology becomes unavailable?
The spring 2026 annual education technology survey from the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) offers a picture of the cybersecurity measures schools report using. More than 75% of schools have an incident response plan, according to the department. About 85% either conduct regular phishing simulations or plan to begin them during the 2026–27 school year. Nearly all Indiana schools use multifactor authentication, and nearly half of school corporations completed a cybersecurity audit or assessment within the previous three years.
Those figures indicate that cybersecurity is receiving attention across Indiana schools. However, they do not establish whether schools can maintain essential student services during an extended technology outage.
Technology supports more than classroom instruction. Digital systems can help staff track attendance, communicate with families, coordinate transportation, manage student records and access information needed to care for children.
When those systems are unavailable, the immediate challenge may be figuring out how to continue the work that cannot wait for a technical recovery.
Can a school nurse access current medication and allergy information if the network is down? Can teachers account for their students without electronic attendance? Can cafeteria staff verify meal counts and dietary requirements? Can transportation employees access the information needed to get students home safely?
For Candice Pearson, a Springfield Public Schools parent, navigating the disruption also meant creating space for parents and teachers to discuss the changes and uncertainty. Pearson told the Recorder, “It’s important for students and teachers to feel supported.”
Her observation points to another dimension of preparedness: how schools communicate with and support families while systems are being restored. The ability to keep student’s safe and learning involves more than restoring computers. It also requires clear communication and a plan for managing disruption.
In the Oct. 8 response to questions about school cybersecurity, IDOE Communications Director Emily Price provided statewide statistics alongside resources intended to help schools strengthen their protections. The department shared incident-response and disaster-recovery templates, cybersecurity assessment resources and training opportunities.
The measures reflected in the department’s 2026 survey address important risks. Multifactor authentication can add a layer of protection to accounts, while phishing simulations can help employees recognize deceptive messages. Incident-response plans can establish responsibilities and guide decisions during a security event.
But preventing unauthorized access, responding to an incident and maintaining school operations during an outage are related challenges, not interchangeable measures of readiness.
The department’s response did not provide statewide findings showing whether schools had practiced operating through a prolonged loss of technology or demonstrated that essential student services could continue during such an outage.
That gap in the response is not evidence that schools have no such procedures. Some districts may have detailed offline plans; and be able to conduct exercises or maintain alternative ways to access critical information. Establishing what schools do in practice requires district-level reporting.
For parents, these questions are not abstract. Families expect schools to know which children are present, respond to emergencies and provide a safe environment for learning. Those responsibilities remain even when a computer system is unavailable.
The next installment of this series examines offline alternatives schools may use to maintain essential services when technology is unavailable. Part three examines whether Indiana schools have tested their operational readiness — and what those tests have revealed.
Contact Health and Environmental Reporter LaTasha Boyd Jones at tashaj@indyrecorder.com or follow her on social media @iamtashajones.
Tasha Jones is a poet, writer, researcher, and educator whose work explores language as a tool for liberation and resistance. She hosts In the Beginning: The Spoken Word Podcast, the #1 spoken word podcast on Apple and Spotify. Tasha is also the Poems & Parables Literary Journal editor and is currently writing Pyramids. Plantations. Projects. Penitentiaries. You can follow her on social media: @iamtashajones, @itbspokenwordpod, and @poemsandparables.
