BUFFALO, N.Y. — Just two weeks after falling victim to swatting calls, Buffalo Public Schools faced another scare.
“I was on edge, and I don't like to feel that way,” said Michelle Hall, a teacher at Stanley M. Makowski Early Childhood Center.
For four-and-a-half hours on Tuesday, security cameras were down, phones were limited and some teachers reported losing access to the swipe card system after a technical outage in one of the buildings caused a district-wide network failure.
The district confirmed that it was not a cybersecurity attack unlike a situation it faced in March of 2021, but still left those on the inside feeling in the dark.
“If something happens, and we don't know, there's no communication,” Hall said. “We can't even check the email to get any notifications.”
That’s a concern many of Hall’s colleagues felt as well, leading them to question if school should have been canceled — a decision 2 On Your Side pressed the district’s Chief Operating Officer on.
2 On Your Side: “Do you feel that there was a reasonable concern for school to be canceled as a result of that?”
“When we've had network issues in the past — and we have had network issues even this year — it has not been something that's triggered a cancellation,” said David Hills, Chief Operating Officer of Buffalo Public Schools.
The Chief Operating Officer would go on to say that the district never felt Tuesday’s situation rose to a level they could not control, adding that BPS is in the process of updating its security system to ensure it is more robust and independent of the network.
“Every day we're working to problem-solve any issues that do come up, and we will not let our students or families or staff not be safe in our schools,” Hills said.
Security experts backed BPS’ decision tonight.
“If you look at all these systems, they are designed to supplement the physical security that may be in place,” said Jeff Rinaldo of Vista Security Group. “That's why it's so important for schools to have security officers.”