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Cyber-Security is an Equity Issue

Donald Harris President, CABE

Recently three different conversations took place over a two-week period that highlighted just how much equity issues affect local school districts in ways we don’t often think about. In this case, the issue was cyber-security; not one that I gave much thought to as an equity issue in the past.

The first conversation was with a superintendent from a rural school district. Like many districts, resources are hard to come by. While discussing protecting data and student records this superintendent remarked that, as important as that protection was, he wasn’t going to propose to his board that they eliminate teachers to pay for network and data security in his budget. Knowing the risks they faced, he had to make difficult choices and they would just have to take their chances. The second conversation was with a technology director who had recently moved from one of Connecticut’s wealthiest communities to a community with fewer resources. He acknowledged how fortunate he was in his first district because he received the resources needed to protect the network and the data residing on it. He knew how lucky he was and was grateful for the support he got from his board of education and administration. In his new job, he was very concerned that fundamental protections were not going to be automatically provided, but that it would go through the superintendent and the board of education to be balanced against all of the other critical issues facing the district. He finished by saying that he’d be lucky to receive enough support to provide rudimentary protection, knowing all the while the district remained vulnerable to malicious attacks.

The third conversation was with a central office administrator in a smaller urban school district that had recently been subject to a highly malicious cyber-attack. This administrator was spending far too much time focused on recovering from this attack, rather than working on curriculum and instruction. While the damage did not include student data systems, enough damage was done system-wide to cripple the operations of the district for several weeks.

The district, also feeling the crunch of “not enough”, had cut costs where possible, knowing that it was a choice to balance all the needs of an alliance school district with protecting networks. To further complicate the matter, the attack came through a peripheral computer system (like HVAC or phones). These aren’t usually the first point of attack and so receive less attention when it comes to security, even though they are connected to the Internet and are as vulnerable as any other system. The good news was that the district had paid for cyber-attack insurance, which is helping to get things back on track, but everyone in

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the district is feeling the effects of this attack.

Is it fair, that the poorer communities have to shoulder the burden of “second-best”? The risk is serious and definitely one of WHEN not IF. As we approach inequities created by zip code and poverty, this is just another place where there are haves and have-nots. I think everyone would agree that this is a serious issue and one that is not going to go away.

Boards of education are going to have to face the fact that cyber-security is an important issue and can’t be willed away during budget season. Unless we’re willing to go back to pre-technology days and scrap all of our technology (and that Genie cannot be stuffed back in the bottle), boards are going to have to bite the bullet and provide the proper equipment and services to protect our data. As a group, we need to lobby our state and federal representatives to provide more support in this endeavor.

As part of the NSBA Federal lobbying efforts in Washington, DC we recently discussed this issue, among many others, with our Congressional delegation, to implore them to find federal resources to assist in protecting data.

Likewise, we need to encourage our state legislators to provide resources on the state level. Among other things, the state could commit to going back to providing free access to the Connecticut Education Network and providing valuable security services via that network for a fraction of what individual local school districts currently pay.

Finally, the greatest cause for data breaches is still human error. We need to provide the funds to train our staff and students to be wary of malicious attacks.

We have to make sure our State and Federal representatives realize that this is another example of inequity and ask their help in fixing it.

Mission: To assist local and regional boards of education in providing high quality education for all Connecticut children through effective leadership. Vision: CABE is passionate about strengthening public education through high-performing, transformative local school board/ superintendent leadership teams that inspire success for each child.

Board of Directors

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Donald Harris | President, Bloomfield Elizabeth Brown | First Vice President, Waterbury Michael Purcaro | Vice President for Government Relations, Ellington Bryan Hall | Vice President for Professional Development, East Hartford John Prins | Secretary/Treasurer, Branford Robert Mitchell | Immediate Past President, Montville Christopher Wilson | Member at Large, Bristol Lydia Tedone | NSBA Director, Simsbury

AREA DIRECTORS Bryan Hall | Area 2 Co-Director, East Hartford Leonard Lockhart | Area 2 Co-Director, Windsor Michele Arn | Area 3 Director, Vernon Joan Trivella | Area 4 Director, Brooklyn Michelle Embree Ku | Area 5 Director, Newtown Karen Kleine | Area 6 Director, Westport George Kurtyka | Area 7 Director, Derby Lon Seidman | Area 8 Director, Essex Sean Nugent | Area 9 Director, Preston

ASSOCIATES Julie Auseré | Associate, Canton Eileen Baker | Associate, Old Saybrook Ethel Grant | Associate, Naugatuck Ann Gruenberg | Associate, Hampton Robert Trefry | Associate, CT Technical High School System

COMMITTEE CHAIRS Leonard Lockhart | Chair, Resolutions, Windsor Becky Tyrrell | Chair, Federal Relations, Plainville Michelle Embree Ku | Chair, State Relations, Newtown

CITY REPRESENTATIVES Yesenia Rivera | City Representative, New Haven Jack Bryant | City Representative, Stamford Charles Stango | City Representative, Waterbury

STAFF Robert Rader | Executive Director Patrice McCarthy | Deputy Director and General Counsel Rebecca Adams Rieder | Senior Staff Attorney Nicholas Caruso | Senior Staff Associate for Field Services and Coordinator of Technology Sheila McKay | Senior Staff Associate for Government Relations Vincent Mustaro | Senior Staff Associate for Policy Service Lisa Steimer | Senior Staff Associate for Professional Development and Communications Teresa Costa | Coordinator of Finance and Administration Pamela Brooks | Senior Administrative Associate for Policy Service and Search Services Terry DeMars | Administrative Associate for Policy Service Gail Heath | Administrative Associate for Government Relations Wilmarie Newton | Administrative Associate for Labor Relations Nancy Propfe | Administrative Assistant for Membership Services Corliss Ucci | Receptionist and Assistant to Executive Director

The CABE Journal (ISSN 1092-1818) is published monthly except a combined issue for July/August as a member service of the Connecticut Association of Boards of Education, 81 Wolcott Hill Road, Wethersfield, CT 06109, (860) 571-7446. CABE membership dues include $30 per person for each individual who receives The CABE Journal. The subscription rate for nonmembers is $75. Association membership dues include a subscription for each Board Member, Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent and Business Manager. The companies and advertisements found in The CABE Journal are not necessarily endorsed by CABE. “Periodicals Postage Paid at Hartford, CT.” POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The CABE Journal, CABE, 81 Wolcott Hill Road, Wethersfield, CT 06109-1242. Email: lsteimer@cabe.org. Members can find the CABE Journal online at: www.cabe.org/ page.cfm?p=1024