Lexington-Richland 5 experienced a data breach that is limiting access to some of its systems, and employees have been told payment of an expected bonus for the school year will be delayed.
Law enforcement has gotten involved to locate the source of the breach, a school spokesperson said without specifying which agency is looking into the matter. The State Law Enforcement Division later confirmed to The State that its critical infrastructure cybersecurity unit is assisting the school district in responding to the incident.
“School District Five has detected a data security incident in its network environment. In response, we immediately launched an investigation with the assistance of law enforcement and third-party specialists to determine the nature and extent of the issue,” said Amanda Taylor, the district’s director of communications.
“We are working to restore impacted systems as quickly as possible. We are unable to provide further details at this time as the investigation continues. However, we will provide updates as they become available.”
A message sent out to employees of the Chapin-Irmo-area school district warned that a $1,500 employee retention bonus previously approved by the school board will not be paid out Friday and that a new payment date will be provided to employees next week.
Schools are currently closed for the summer, but employees working on site in the district have reportedly been unable to access computer systems because of the breach.
A message on the school district’s website on Thursday said that SAT testing on Saturday will go forward as planned.
This is a developing story.
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