Students’ personal information dating back to 1996 was part of a cyber attack targeting the Wellington Catholic District School Board.
WCDSB parents and caregivers were notified almost two weeks ago that it was one of the boards across North America targeted in the data breach through the app from PowerSchool. The breach occurred between Dec. 22 to 28.
Limited student and staff information was compromised as part of this, stated in an email sent from the board to parents. The information affected includes names, birth dates, addresses, genders, Ontario education numbers, and names and phone numbers of guardians and emergency contacts. This is for all students who were enrolled in the board since September 1996.
Other information like medical conditions, doctors’ names, and custody information for students was impacted for some students enrolled between 2013 and 2025. Information about children’s allergies, medical conditions or injuries were included in the data and may have been impacted. Information given to WCDSB’s psychologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, audiologists, speech-language pathologists and social workers, were not impacted.
For a “very limited” amount of students enrolled between 2000 and 2015, social insurance numbers (SIN) impacted, said in the email. Those students will be notified directly. For the few WCDSB staff whose SINs were impacted, they will also be notified directly.
There was no compromise to financial information, student academic grades or individual education plans.
Some staff who have worked at the board since 2013 had their names, addresses, and educator numbers impacted as part of the breach.
A frequently asked questions page has been posted on the board’s website and on the PowerSchool website. If anyone has more information about the cyber incident they can email the board at [email protected]. Those who contact WCDSB about this will need to verify their identity before it can release information about the specific impact to their information.
