SJCSB Workshop – February 25, 2025
SJCSB Workshop – February 25, 2025 Read More »
February 2025
Hoax Call / Swatting Incidents at St. Johns County Schools
This morning (February 25) began the second day of hoax calls/swatting incidents within St. Johns County Schools. Pacetti Bay Middle School received a call from an unknown male subject this morning advising he was at a residence near the school, had firearms and explosives, had committed a homicide, and made threats against the school. The assigned youth resource deputy was onsite and took over communications on the phone with the subject. The school was placed on lock down briefly while SJSO resources flooded the area and investigated the allegations. Investigation revealed there is no credible threat, and the circumstances are similar in nature to the hoax incident at Landrum Middle School yesterday.
Both circumstances are consistent with a “swatting call” which involves a hoax emergency call to generate a large law enforcement response. Regardless of the circumstances, SJSO and the St. Johns County School District will always respond to threats with as many resources as possible until we are confident students and staff are safe.
“Over the past two days, a few St. Johns County schools have received threatening phone calls from an unknown source,” said Superintendent Tim Forson. “We work collaboratively with the St. Johns Sheriff’s Office to ensure our schools, students and staff are safe and all such threats are fully investigated. If appropriate, schools will be placed on lockdown until the campus is inspected and cleared.”
“We are working with our federal and state law enforcement partners to determine the origin of the call and hopefully identify the individual(s) responsible,” said Sheriff Rob Hardwick. “We understand the emotional impact these cowards who hide behind keyboards have had on parents, staff and students and we will continue to work with the St. Johns County School District to keep our schools safe.”
Please see the situational awareness brief from SJSO and educational materials on hoax calls and swatting.
Hoax Call / Swatting Incidents at St. Johns County Schools Read More »
District Media Advisory Committee Meeting on March 3
A District Media Advisory Committee Meeting will be held on Monday, March 3, 2025 at 3PM.
The meeting will be broadcast live and will be available afterward on the SJCSD Media Services YouTube channel.
District Media Advisory Committee Meeting on March 3 Read More »
ESE Parent Survey
Each year, the Florida Department of Education conducts a survey to determine how well Florida’s schools are partnering with parents and promoting parent involvement in their child’s education. The survey is open to all parents of children with an IEP receiving ESE services from preschool age through grade 12. This year’s ESE Parent Survey is open beginning February 1, 2025 and will close on June 30, 2025.
PowerSchool Cybersecurity Incident
PowerSchool Incident background:
As you may be aware, PowerSchool – a cloud-based software vendor used by St. Johns County School District and over 50 million students globally– recently experienced a cybersecurity incident involving unauthorized access to certain customer information in the PowerSchool Student Information System (SIS). St. Johns does use PowerSchool SIS products, and we were testing the Student Information Systems product at the time of the incident.
Please understand that this incident did not occur at St. Johns County School District; the unauthorized access occurred on PowerSchool’s computer systems and impacted many schools and districts in the US and abroad.
We take this incident very seriously and protecting personal information is one of our top priorities. As we learn more about how this incident at PowerSchool occurred, we will be reviewing our relationship with them. If that relationship is to continue, we will be seeking assurances that they have taken steps to reduce the risk of something like this happening again.
The District began notifying impacted staff and parents/guardians of students on February 4, 2025.
Upcoming Actions by PowerSchool:
PowerSchool has advised that it will be providing:
- Notification to Individuals Involved: In the upcoming weeks, in collaboration with Experian, PowerSchool will provide email notice to students (or their parents / guardians if the student is under 18) and educators whose information was involved. The email notice will include identity protection and credit monitoring services offered (as applicable). Families with multiple students impacted may receive emails for each student.
- Identity Protection and Credit Monitoring Services: PowerSchool has engaged Experian, a trusted credit reporting agency, to offer two years of complimentary identity protection services for all students and educators whose information was involved. This offer will also include two years of complimentary credit monitoring services for all students over 18 and educators whose information was involved.
- For more information on this incident and the affected data elements please view the PowerSchool Incident website.
- PowerSchool has contracted with Experian to provide a Help Phone line for users impacted by this incident. The Experian help line is (833) 918-9464.
What can you do to protect your identity?
We encourage you to sign up for complimentary credit and identity monitoring once you receive your email from PowerSchool/Experian.
Because the incident occurred at PowerSchool and the remediation services are being offered by PowerSchool/Experian, St. Johns County School District will be directing individuals to call PowerSchool or Experian for more information.
In the meantime, you may consider the following best practices to help protect your information:
- It is always advisable to regularly review and monitor your accounts and statements closely. If you detect any suspicious activity on an account, you should promptly notify the institution and/or the company with which the account is maintained.
- Stay vigilant against suspicious communications. If you receive an email, text or phone call from a sender you do not recognize, do not respond, open the message, or download attachments. Only click on links or attachments from emails and senders you trust.
- It is always a good practice to use strong passwords for your accounts and avoid using the same passwords across multiple applications, accounts, or services.
- Where possible, enable Multi-Factor Authentication, which is a multi-step account login process that requires users to enter more information than just a password.
- You may obtain a copy of your credit report, free of charge, once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide credit reporting companies:
- Equifax: 1-800-685-1111; Equifax.com/personal/credit-report-services.
- Experian: 1-888-397-3742; Experian.com/help.
- TransUnion: 1-888-909-8872; TransUnion.com/credit-help.
- To order your annual free credit report, please visit http://www.annualcreditreport.com or call toll free at 1-877-322-8228.
- You may consider placing a fraud alert on your credit report. A fraud alert is free and will stay on your credit report for one year. The alert informs creditors of possible fraudulent activity within your report and requests that the creditor contact you prior to establishing any new accounts in your name. To place a fraud alert on your credit report, contact any of the three national credit reporting agencies. Additional information is available at http://www.annualcreditreport.com.
PowerSchool Cybersecurity Incident Read More »
Jill Adams Named Teacher of the Year for 2025
Jill Adams from Creekside High School has been honored with the prestigious title of St. Johns County Teacher of the Year. Alongside her, James Tansey of Fruit Cove Middle School has been recognized as Rookie Teacher of the Year.
Jill is an Instructional Literacy Coach who trains and coaches teachers to implement high yield instructional strategies and support student achievement. She has influenced the lives of teachers and students alike at Creekside through her dedication and passion.
The district’s Teacher of the Year was announced at the annual banquet, sponsored by Investing in Kids! (INK!) on Friday, January 31, 2025 at the World Golf Village Renaissance Resort. This event not only celebrates the educators nominated to represent each school in the district but also recognizes all the outstanding professionals who educate, inspire, and invest in students every day.
Jill’s name has been submitted to the Florida Department of Education for consideration for Florida’s Teacher of the Year.
Congratulations, Jill!
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District Media Advisory Committee Meetings in February
Three District Media Advisory Committee Meetings will be held in February at the dates and times listed below.
- Monday, February 10, 2025 at 1 PM
- Monday, February 10, 2025 at 3 PM
- Wednesday, February 12, 2025 at 1 PM
The meetings will be broadcast live online and may be viewed on the SJCSD Media Services YouTube channel.
District Media Advisory Committee Meetings in February Read More »
Community Forums for Superintendent Search
Two Community Forums will be held on Wednesday, February 12, 2025 to collect input from the community on the search for St. Johns County’s next superintendent.
The first forum will be held at 5:30 PM in the 3rd floor auditorium of the school district’s administrative offices located at 40 Orange Street in St. Augustine, FL 32084.
The second forum will be held at 7:00 PM in the cafetorium of Valley Ridge Academy located at 105 Greenleaf Drive, Ponte Vedra, FL 32081.
Community Forums for Superintendent Search Read More »