Haverhill schools' Wi-Fi restored

Mike LaBella, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.

Apr. 13—HAVERHILL — Problems with Wi-Fi affecting schools throughout the district are being resolved and the district plans to be in full operation on Tuesday, according to officials.

Students and teachers at Haverhill High used their private internet services from home Monday to communicate after continuing problems following a cyberattack that affected the district's computer servers last week.

All other schools operated per their full, in-person reopening plans.

Assistant Superintendent Michael Pfifferling said last week's cyberattack affected email, internet and Google Classroom, and VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) phone systems, which are used in the central office and several schools, including Hunking Middle School.

Before the system could be fully restored, every device that was connected to the network at the time of the attack had to be inspected, he said.

Superintendent Margaret Marotta said the district's IT team worked diligently all weekend on recovery efforts. However, despite their long hours, they hit a snag and were not able to have internet access available in all schools on Monday, she said.

She added that the lack of internet access affected classrooms across the district where teachers conduct in-person and remote classes at the same time.

Fully in-person learners and fully-remote learners experienced minimal impact, she said.

High school Principal Glenn Burns said his school's 435 courses have been operating with teachers conducting live, in-person classes while also broadcasting live to students at home learning remotely.

The high school has 1,847 students, with 1,193 attending in-person under the hybrid model.

There are 484 seniors, of which 301 have been attending in-person under the hybrid model. Those seniors were scheduled to return to full-time, in-person learning on Monday, but had to wait until Tuesday to begin their full-time schedule.

Freshman, sophomores and juniors currently attending under the hybrid model are scheduled to return to classrooms full time April 26, the week after school vacation.

Marotta said a common time frame for a well-managed ransomware recovery effort is one to two weeks and that recovery of the computer network is defined as getting the system back online so the school system can operate.

"After we are back online and operational, there typically are several more weeks of work to be done making sure the IT management and (computer network) security infrastructure is effectively more robust than before the ransomware attack," she said.

In addition to strengthening the computer network against another cyberattack, systems that will also take time to restore include printing from any computer, accounting software, computerized building HVAC systems that are being operated manually at this time, and full restoration of email, which is operating sporadically.

None of these issues would drastically impact classroom instruction, school officials said.

Marotta informed parents via email that although the district will be up and running on Tuesday, it will not be at full network capacity for some time.

"Email is not yet up consistently," she told parents. "Please be sure to send any notes about dismissal changes or other important student needs in written form. Please be aware the situation is fluid and we will keep you posted as to any needed changes."

Students who will continue with their full-time, in-person learning on Tuesday (except those fully enrolled in the Remote Learning Academy) include those in pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and grades one through six, and those attending the Learning for Life, Greenleaf Academy and TEACH program.

Students in grades seven and eight, along with high school freshmen, sophomores and juniors, are scheduled to return to classrooms full time April 26, the week after school vacation.