Third Communication

Second Communication

FAQ PowerSchool Cyber Security

On January 7, 2025, Southwest Horizon School Division was notified by our student information system (SIS) provider, PowerSchool, that a cybersecurity event had occurred in late December and that some of our PowerSchool data was accessed. 

PowerSchool, not Southwest Horizon School Division, was the target of the cybersecurity event. PowerSchool customers across Canada and the United States have been impacted, including Southwest Horizon School Division. We are working with PowerSchool to ensure the integrity and stability of our data going forward. 

To this point, PowerSchool has worked with cybersecurity experts to resolve the situation. PowerSchool has deactivated accounts and initiated enhanced processes for passwords and access. PowerSchool has provided us with assurances that the accessed data has now been deleted. Furthermore, PowerSchool has confidence that the data was not copied or uploaded elsewhere. PowerSchool is actively engaged with cybersecurity professionals to continue to monitor this event. 

Southwest Horizon School Division has taken the necessary preliminary steps to respond to this situation, which includes involving the appropriate professionals. No other school division systems or data was accessed or compromised. 

We are currently investigating the impact of this cybersecurity event in Southwest Horizon School Division. At this time, we believe that the data accessed included information about students and staff— particularly contact information and other information provided to the Division at the time the student was registered, and the staff commenced their employment. No banking information was accessed, and no images of students were accessed. 

Please be assured that the safety and security of our data—particularly the information of your children and of our staff is of paramount importance to us and to PowerSchool. We regret that this has occurred, and we will continue to collaborate on this matter. 

It is our commitment to you to continue to communicate. As we learn more, we will be in touch with you, our community. Communication will also be posted on our website and a process to ask questions will be identified.

Planting the Seeds of Agriculture!

On January 21, Southwest Horizon had five schools attend Ag Days in Brandon .  They took part in a program called AgVenture supported by Agriculture in the Classroom. 

Students learned that Agriculture has careers available for all skills and interests, from agronomy to drones, accounting to abattoirs!  47% of Ag employers cannot find enough workers! Students completed bingo cards as they interacted with many of the 500 vendors!