Wichita schools’ computer system should be up and running this week, officials say

The Wichita school district’s computer systems should be available by the end of the week to allow parents and students to review grades and assignments, officials said Tuesday.

As an investigation into a hacking attempt nears completion, “there is no evidence at this time that any student records have been removed from our systems,” Superintendent John Allison said in an e-mailed statement to families.

The state’s largest school district disabled its Synergy student information system more than a week ago as a precaution while officials investigated a hacking attempt discovered Oct. 23. The system – along with its corresponding programs, ParentVue and StudentVue – manages student grades, attendance, emergency contacts and other information.

District spokeswoman Susan Arensman also said it didn’t appear that information about employees was compromised.

Allison said the district is beginning to “bring our critical business systems back online.” Because Synergy was disabled for so long, though, it will take teachers several weeks to get caught up with online grades.

When full access to the ParentVue system is restored, the district will notify families through e-mail, social media and the district’s automated calling system, Allison said. Users’ ParentVue user names and passwords will not change.

“Our entire district community has been inconvenienced because of this situation, and I want to say THANK YOU for your continued patience and support of our district as we worked through the investigation,” Allison said in the e-mail. “We look forward to being back up and running at full speed very soon.”

This story was originally published November 3, 2015 at 4:51 PM with the headline "Wichita schools’ computer system should be up and running this week, officials say."