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Notification of Battelle For Kids Data Breach

The Ohio Department of Education has shared certain student information surrounding state testing with a third-party organization called Battelle for Kids.


Battelle for Kids has informed us that it has been a victim of a ransomware attack, which has compromised information on some of our former and current students from the Class of 2013 through the Class of 2022. We wanted to make you aware of this in the event that you have a current Class of 2022 student, or a graduate from the classes impacted.


The compromised information includes student names, state student identification numbers, grade level, school year, assessment results and other information such as birth dates and schedule-related information such as the student’s class and teacher name. Social security numbers are not shared with Battelle. Battelle has also confirmed that several Ohio school districts were impacted by this incident.


The data breach affects the following years and grades:


  • 2010-2011: Grades 2, 3, 5, 7, 10;

  • 2011-2012: Grades K-8, 10-12;

  • 2012-2013: Grades 1-8, 10, 11, 12;

  • 2013-2014: Grades 2-8

  • 2014-2015: Grades 3-12


While Battelle has informed us that the information that was accessed as a result of this attack is not considered identifiable and does not require legal notification, as your school district, we felt that it was important to share this with you.


Battelle for Kids has assured the district it is taking steps to ensure that no future attacks of this kind occur. Likewise, Battelle for Kids indicates they are monitoring the dark web to determine if any of the exposed information is released publicly, and will notify the district if that occurs.

 

We truly apologize for this inconvenience. We will continue working with all of our partners and vendors to ensure they maintain adequate safeguards against these kinds of attacks and to ensure they provide the district with prompt notice of any unauthorized disclosures or breaches in the future so that information can be communicated to our families.


We will keep you informed of any further information we receive from Battelle or the Ohio Department of Education regarding this data breach. If you have specific questions about whether or not your student’s information was impacted by this security breach, please email [email protected].