New York City's public schools chancellor expressed disappointment with the technical issues that arose during the city's first implementation of remote learning on a snow day, blaming IBM for the difficulties. The controversial shift away from traditional snow days has sparked frustration among parents and criticism from Mayor Eric Adams, who defended his remarks about parents' reluctance to navigate remote learning. IBM has since expanded capacity to accommodate the surge in online users, and the company expressed regret for the inconvenience caused.
New York City public schools experienced a rocky start to remote learning as students and parents encountered widespread technical difficulties with various platforms and devices, leading to frustration and disappointment. Schools Chancellor David Banks expressed anger and blamed IBM for the authentication system's failure, while some parents opted to take their kids sledding instead of continuing to attempt logging in. Despite apologies and assurances that the issues were largely resolved, the widespread disruptions raised concerns about the readiness of the system for remote learning.
New York City public schools will implement a mindful breathing program for all students from pre-kindergarten to grade 12, aiming to support their physical and mental health. The program will require schools to incorporate two-to-five minutes of mindful breathing exercises into daily routines. Mayor Eric Adams emphasized the need for students to calm their nervous systems amidst the overwhelming influence of social media and constant news alerts. Additionally, the city announced the recognition of Diwali as a school holiday, joining other holidays such as Easter, Passover, and Eid in the school calendar.
Diwali has been added to the NYC public school calendar as a holiday, joining Lunar New Year and Eid. The addition of Diwali will require adjustments to the already packed school calendar, but education officials have stated that they will be able to meet the statutory requirement of 180 days of instruction. The bill now moves onto the governor for her signature, and education officials will have at least a year to finalize the scheduling challenges. The addition of Diwali is seen as a way to make Hindu children feel more included and to open minds to different cultures.
A data breach affecting nearly 45,000 students and staff members of NYC Public Schools has been reported. The breach occurred through a file transfer software called MOVEit, and approximately 19,000 documents were accessed without authorization. The impacted data includes student evaluations, Medicaid reports, and internal records related to Department of Education employees. The Department of Education is working with NYC Cyber Command to remediate the issue and has no reason to believe there is any ongoing unauthorized access to DOE systems.
A cyberattack on New York City Public Schools has exposed sensitive data on around 45,000 students, Department of Education staff, and service providers. The stolen data includes student evaluations, social security numbers, and birthdates. The DOE says it will notify affected people this summer and offer them access to identity monitoring services. No ransom demands have been received, and none of the stolen data has been published. The cyberattackers targeted a vulnerability in software called 'Move It' that is used to share documents.
