JEFCOED Update April 3, 2023

JEFCOED Family,

I begin this letter with a sincere feeling of gratitude.  I was out in schools Monday, and everywhere I went I saw a “make it happen” attitude.  I’m pleased but not surprised!  That’s the mentality of our people.  Whatever hurdle comes our way, we come together to overcome it.  Despite not having the technology we’ve become accustomed to, teachers were still teaching, and students were still learning.  So to our teachers, our staff members, our students, and our administrators, I say Thank You!

To update you on the situation involving our network, most of it is still down.  We are rebuilding it a piece at a time, while at the same time making sure no other malware is found.  I am happy to report that we are becoming increasingly confident that no personally identifiable information was breached.  Again, if we find out otherwise we will alert stakeholders immediately.

While we wish the ransomware attack had never happened, I would like to again commend our technology department.  Their quick thinking and responsive efforts helped stop the attack.  It is because of them that the damage was mitigated.

As I alluded to earlier, this school day resembled one 15 to 20 years ago.  We were using pencils and whiteboards instead of Chromebooks and ViewSonics.  People have asked me how long until the network is fully restored.  What I can tell you is our team is working as quickly as they possibly can to get us back to 100% functionality.  However, it’s a process, and it could take several days.  So please be patient with us.  

We hope phone service will be restored in the next day or so.  However, until that time, if you need to contact your student’s school, please use the method that your principal has outlined.  

Again, thank you for everything today.  We are in the 4th nine weeks and summer will be here before you know it!  Keep up the good work and keep working hard!

Sincerely, 

Dr. Walter B. Gonsoulin

Superintendent