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Were you a current or former student in the last few decades? Or a parent? Or an educator? 

If so, your sensitive data 鈥� like Social聽Security聽numbers and medical records 鈥斅�. Their target was education technology behemoth PowerSchool, which provides a centralized system for reams of student data to damn near every聽school聽in America.

Given the cyberattack鈥檚 high stakes and its potential to harm millions of current and former students, I teamed up Wednesday with Doug Levin of the  to moderate a timely webinar about what happened, who was affected 鈥� and the steps school districts must take to keep their communities safe.

Concern about the PowerSchool breach is clearly high: Some 600 people tuned into the live event at one point and pummeled Levin and panelists Wesley Lombardo, technology director at Tennessee’s Maryville City Schools; Mark Racine, co-founder of RootED Solutions; and Amelia Vance, president of the Public Interest Privacy Center, with questions. 

PowerSchool declined our invitation to participate but sent a statement, saying it is 鈥渨orking to complete our investigation of the incident and [is] coordinating with districts and schools to provide more information and resources (including credit monitoring or identity protection services if applicable) as it becomes available.鈥�

The individual or group who hacked the ed tech giant has yet to be publicly identified.

Asked and answered: Why has the company鈥檚 security safeguards faced widespread scrutiny? What steps should parents take to keep their kids鈥� data secure? Will anyone be held accountable?

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In the news

Oklahoma schools Superintendent Ryan Walters, who says undocumented immigrants have placed 鈥渟evere financial and operational strain鈥� on schools in his state, proposed rules requiring parents to show proof of citizenship or legal immigration status when enrolling their kids 鈥� a proposal that not only violates federal law, but is likely to keep some parents from sending their children to school. | 

• Not playing along: Leaders of the state鈥檚 two largest school districts 鈥� Oklahoma City and Tulsa 鈥� rebuked the proposal and said they would not collect students鈥� immigration information. Educators nationwide fear the incoming Trump administration could carry out arrests on campuses. | 
   
• Walters filed a $474 million federal lawsuit this week alleging immigration enforcement officials mismanaged the U.S.-Mexico border, leading to 鈥渟kyrocketing costs鈥� for Oklahoma schools required 鈥渢o accommodate an influx of non-citizen students.鈥� | 
   
• Timely resource guide: With ramped-up immigration enforcement on the horizon 鈥� and with many schools already sharing student information with ICE 鈥� here are the steps school administrators must take to comply with longstanding privacy and civil rights laws. | 

A federal judge in Kentucky struck down the Biden administration鈥檚 Title IX rules that enshrined civil rights protections for LGBTQ+ students in schools, siding with several conservative state attorneys general who argued that harassment of transgender students based on their gender identity doesn鈥檛 constitute sex discrimination. 

Fires throw L.A. schools into chaos: As fatal wildfires rage in California, the students and families of America鈥檚 second-largest school district have had their lives thrown into disarray. Schools serving thousands of students were badly damaged or destroyed. Many children have lost their homes. Hundreds of kids whose schools burned down returned to makeshift classrooms Wednesday after losing 鈥渢heir whole lifestyle in a matter of hours.鈥� |  

• At least seven public schools in Los Angeles that were destroyed, damaged or threatened by flames will remain closed, along with campuses in other districts. | 

Has TikTok鈥檚 time run out? With a national ban looming for the popular social media app, many teens say they鈥檙e ready to move on (and have already flocked to a replacement). | 

Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta restricted LGBTQ+-related content from teens鈥� accounts for months under its so-called sensitive content policy until the effort was exposed by journalist Taylor Lorenz. | 

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday announced the participants in a $200 million pilot program to help聽schools聽and libraries bolster their cybersecurity defenses. They include 645聽schools聽and districts and 50 libraries. |聽

Scholastic falls to 鈥渇urry鈥� hackers:聽The education and publishing giant that brought us Harry Potter has fallen victim to a cyberattacker, who reportedly stole the records of some 8 million people. In an added twist, the culprit gave a shout-out to 鈥渢he puppygirl hacker polycule,鈥� an apparent reference to a hacker dating group interested in human-like animal characters. |聽

• Dig deeper: Here鈥檚 how AI is being used by cybercriminals to rob schools. |  

Not just in New Jersey:聽In a new survey, nearly a quarter of teachers said their聽schools聽are patrolled by drones and a third said their聽schools聽have surveillance cameras with facial recognition capabilities. |聽

The number of teens abstaining from drugs, alcohol and tobacco use has hit record highs, with experts calling the latest data unprecedented and unexpected. | 

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ICYMI @The74

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Emotional Support

New pup just dropped.

Meet Woodford, who, at just 9 weeks, has already aged like a fine bourbon. I鈥檓 told that Woody 鈥� and the duck, obviously 鈥� have come under the good care of 74 reporter Linda Jacobson鈥檚 daughter.

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