Richmond schools work with FBI, state police to restore systems after cyberattack

RICHMOND, Va. — The FBI is now working with Richmond Public Schools following last week's cybersecurity incident, the district says.

Richmond Public Schools says it is also working with Virginia State Police as crews restore its systems. The district has set up a temporary network and distributed Chromebooks, and it says critical safety systems remain secure.

The involvement of federal and state investigators marks the latest development in an incident that has disrupted the district for more than a week.

The trouble began Oct. 21, when students and staff were warned early that morning not to connect any personal devices to school networks after district leaders detected suspicious activity on the RPS network. Hours later, Superintendent Jason Kamras confirmed the suspicious activity was a "cybersecurity incident" that was "disrupting several operational systems."

As a precaution, Kamras said internet access was taken offline across the district. That decision limited phone and email service, along with access to online classroom tools and learning platforms. Despite the disruption, the district kept schools open, shifting to what it called a technology-free learning environment.

The outage quickly created challenges in classrooms. At least one RPS teacher told CBS 6 that adjusting lessons without the internet would be extremely difficult.

"How am I supposed to adjust lessons and activities without textbooks or access to copiers or internet?" the teacher said. "All my materials are in my Google Drive."

WATCH: Richmond parents react to school division cybersecurity incident: 'We need answers'

As the disruption stretched into a second day, the district added operational changes to keep campuses secure, including limiting non-staff entry to caregivers only and releasing children only to adults already approved in the PowerSchool system.

District officials have not said whether any personal information was compromised or whether a ransom was demanded. In a statement, RPS said it is working with local and federal law enforcement to determine the scope and source of the incident.

"We are working closely with our experts to determine whether any personal information was affected," the district said. "If it was, we will notify those impacted, explain what it means for them, and offer free credit monitoring."

The uncertainty has prompted questions from parents.

"I guess I'd like more information about what exactly happened, the details of what the breach involved, how they're keeping the children and staff safe," parent Meghan Deal said.

Cybersecurity expert Alex Nette said the district's response followed standard protocol for a network threat.

"Something has obviously happened," Nette said. "This is one of the initial steps that any organization or school system will take when something is going wrong."

Nette said attacks on school districts are becoming more common and easier to carry out.

"Many people who are not as skilled in terms of coding and creating these malware packages now can do that with the use of AI," Nette said.

The disruption has also raised concerns among RPS employees. Andrea Bryant, president of the Richmond Education Association, which represents RPS teachers, said the outage was unexpected and that staff are worried about maintaining safety while losing access to systems they rely on for tasks such as attendance, grading and making copies. Union leaders have called for more proactive backup plans, including paper-based resources for when technology is unavailable.

The district has established a command center to assist families and answer questions. It is open from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

• Phone: 804-780-1849
• Email: RPSCommand@rvaschools.net

Kamras said the district will share updates as more information becomes available.

This is a developing story, so check back with WTVR.com for updates. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have info, photos or videos to share.