Tech issues shorten first full week of school year in Chambersburg

Technology issues have been plaguing Chambersburg Area School District in what should have been the first full week of the 2023-24 school year.

"The Chambersburg Area School District is currently experiencing a temporary network disruption affecting the operability of certain computer systems," read a district statement released Tuesday, the second day all schools were closed. "We are working diligently with third-party forensic specialists to investigate the source of this disruption, confirm its impact on our systems, and to restore full functionality to our systems as soon as possible. We appreciate your patience and understanding and apologize for any inconvenience."

The school district, which just began its school year on Thursday, Aug. 24, first announced Sunday evening that all classes were canceled Monday "due to computer systems being down within the district."

In addition to schools, district offices were also closed Tuesday due to an "ongoing service disruption," the district announced Monday afternoon.

The district said it was "working with experts to understand the scope of our issues and provide direction to resolve our concerns."

It also warned students and staff to not log into their district accounts, including district computers, district email or Sapphire, a program where parents can access information about their students' academic progress.

There was no word Tuesday afternoon whether schools or offices would be open Wednesday.

Asked for additional information about the problem affecting the district's computer systems and the likelihood of schools reopening Wednesday, a district spokesperson said he had no further comment beyond the statement released Tuesday afternoon.

The school district also said it would not be able to livestream a special school board meeting planned for Tuesday night where a new superintendent would be hired. The district has been without a permanent leader for over a year, following the abrupt resignation of the former superintendent, Dion Betts.

The district has provided live feeds of school board meetings since the COVID-19 pandemic led to capacity restrictions in 2020.

For the most up-to-date information about the district's technology issues, follow its Facebook and X (formerly Twitter) pages or casdonline.org.