On Friday, September 29, 2023 around 2:00 PM EST, many parents/guardians of Middletown Public School students received multiple text messages regarding attendance from multiple phone numbers. Additionally, many parents/guardians received multiple emails regarding the same matter. This was an enormous error and not a security hack.
Here's what happened:
Recently, the District of Middletown Public Schools implemented an attendance intervention system within PowerSchool. Part of the system sends positive, digital postcards to all students' parents/guardians regarding their child's attendance on the final Friday of each month (September through May).
All families within the district should have received the below text message today:
Hi there! View the attached postcard for an update on {{student_first_name}}'s attendance so far this school year. If you would like to speak more about {{student_first_name}}'s attendance, please call {{school_number}}. Do not reply to this message, the mailbox is not monitored. Thank you!
Instead, many are receiving this message:
{{student_first_name}} missed {{Days_absent}} school days this year. {{dates_absent}} The classroom is the best place to learn. We look forward to seeing Dorothy in school.
This issue should have been fixed by PowerSchool last week. We will follow up with them as to why it wasn't fixed.
The attached postcard should have looked like the one above, but with each students' name and accurate attendance information in it. Additionally, the postcard should be pulling accurate attendance data from PowerSchool. We're hearing repeated reports of this data being wrong. We will also follow up with PowerSchool regarding that.
We are sincerely apologetic for the confusion, worry, and likely frustration that this error has caused.