CHESAPEAKE, Va. — Families at Grassfield High School were notified of a cybersecurity incident after students received emails containing inappropriate content and threatening messages, prompting an investigation involving the school division’s technology department and law enforcement.
In an email sent to families Monday night, October 12, the school’s principal notified parents of the incident and the district’s response.
Felicia Montanaro, whose son is a sophomore at Grassfield High School, said the emails were confusing because of their senders and subject lines, which she believes were designed to get students to open them.
“It was confusing because of where the emails were coming from, but also the subjects. Like, one of them was ‘grape allegations,’ so they were obviously worded in a way to get kids to open them,” Montanaro said.
According to the message sent to families, the district’s Department of Technology is working closely with law enforcement to investigate the incident.
Montanaro said she was frustrated by the communication families received and wants more information about how the breach happened and how many students were affected.
“I was irritated about the message, as I’m sure other parents were, because they have this tendency to downplay what’s actually going on,” she said.
Montanaro said her son was still receiving inappropriate messages Tuesday morning. She said she took him to school later than usual that morning, partly because of the incident.
She also expressed concern about the lack of additional communication from the school.
“We have not gotten any further communication, and frankly, I don’t expect us to get any updates, any communication from the school. It’s just how they operate; they tend to keep us in the dark,” Montanaro said.
CPS Superintendent Doug Brubaker sent an email to Grassfield families at 5:30 p.m. today updating the community on the situation. Brubaker said their technology division is continuing to investigate the incident and secure the emails affected, and urged students to not open suspicious emails or links in the meantime.
Read the full email below.
Dear Grassfield High School Families,
I am writing to provide an update regarding the ongoing cybersecurity incident involving compromised student email accounts and unauthorized communications.
Our Division of Technology Innovation continues to investigate the incident, secure affected accounts, restrict unauthorized communications, and strengthen safeguards across our systems. We are also continuing to work with federal, state, and local law enforcement as the investigation proceeds.
Our focus remains on investigating this incident, addressing security concerns, and taking appropriate steps to protect and support our students and families. As a reminder, please review the following guidance with your student:
- Do not open suspicious emails. Students should exercise caution with unsolicited messages, particularly those from unknown senders.
- Do not engage with inappropriate messages. Remind students not to respond to, forward, or otherwise engage with threatening or inappropriate communications.
- Do not click suspicious links or share personal information. If an unsolicited email or message requests account verification or login credentials, do not click links or enter personal information.
- Report concerning messages. Use the “See Something, Say Something” principle. Please report suspicious communications or other concerning activity to your school administrator or the Division of Technology Innovation.To help maintain a safe and secure online environment, students are not permitted to use virtual private networks (VPNs) or other tools to bypass the school division’s internet security and content filters. Students who attempt to bypass these safeguards may have their CPS accounts disabled.
I want to express my sincere appreciation to the Division of Technology Innovation, Principal Brian Haughinberry, and the administrative staff at Grassfield High School for their quick response and continued efforts.
In closing, I would like to thank our families for demonstrating patience and understanding during this time, and recognize our students for speaking up, reporting concerns, and helping us support a safe school community.
Sincerely,
Doug Brubaker, Ph. D.
Superintendent
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