Lexington-Richland School District Five detected "unusual network activity" on June 3 that impacted operations, according to Superintendent Akil E. Ross at the June 9 board meeting.

Ross told members and the community that they do not believe any sensitive data is being misused at this time. The district is working to restore files and systems as promptly as possible; however, some files may not be recoverable.

After detecting the unusual network activity, the district's technology team began investigating the incident with help from law enforcement and third-party specialists, officials said. The team began restoring the affected files and systems and implemented advanced detection and threat-prevention software.

The investigation revealed the district was a victim of actions by “malicious actors” outside of its network environment.

In his statement, Ross said that if any sensitive data is found to have been compromised, the district will follow legal and expert forensic recommendations. During an executive session earlier that day, board members received legal advice related to the incident.

Ross said the finance, technology and human resources departments were able to process the June 15 payroll for employees.

“I’m proud of our district,” he said. “We have come together as a team to pivot and ensure those threat actors who are trying to pressure us didn’t see us sweat.”

As the investigation continues, district officials said they will provide updates to the community as they become available.

This is not the first time the district has been impacted by a network breach.

In January 2025, the district received notice from PowerSchool that customer data worldwide had been accessed by an unauthorized party.

PowerSchool informed district officials that the compromised credentials were for a support account, which allowed the hacker to access customer data globally. The company immediately disabled the account and initiated security lockdown procedures.

During that time, Lexington-Richland Five officials informed the community that it does not store students’ social security numbers or financial data on the platform.

A report by the Center for Internet Security stated that approximately 82% of school districts across the nation experienced a cyber incident.