September 29, 2026 Update:
To the Slate Valley Community,
I am writing to provide another update regarding the ongoing cybersecurity incident that began on September 3, 2026.
Since the incident was first identified, the District has been working closely with cybersecurity professionals, legal counsel, our insurance carrier, and appropriate law enforcement agencies to investigate the incident, secure and restore our systems, and determine the nature and scope of any information that may have been affected. That work remains ongoing.
As part of this incident, the District received a ransom/extortion demand. At its meeting last night, the Slate Valley School Board considered the matter and took formal action to decline payment. The Board approved the following motion:
“I move that the Slate Valley Unified Union School District Board decline to authorize payment of any ransom or extortion demand arising from the District’s current cybersecurity incident and authorize the Superintendent, in consultation with the District's legal counsel, cybersecurity professionals, insurance carrier, and appropriate law enforcement agencies, to continue all necessary response, recovery, investigation, notification, and remediation activities related to the incident.”
With this action, our focus remains on the continued response to and recovery from the September 3rd incident. This includes restoring and securing District systems, continuing the forensic investigation, determining the nature and scope of any affected data, completing any required notifications, and taking appropriate steps to strengthen our systems going forward.
We recognize that the length and complexity of this incident have created challenges and questions for our staff, families, and community. Cybersecurity investigations take time, and there are limits on what we can responsibly share while the investigation remains active. We remain committed to communicating accurate information when it becomes available, and when sharing it, we will not compromise the investigation, the security of our systems, or our recovery efforts.
Throughout this process, our schools have continued their most important work, educating and supporting our students. I want to thank our staff for their patience, flexibility, and professionalism as they have continued to serve students while adapting to the disruptions caused by this incident. I also want to thank our families and community for their continued patience and understanding.
We will continue to provide updates as meaningful developments arise.
Brooke Olsen-Farrell
Superintendent of Schools
Slate Valley Unified Union School District