Student data lost after Washington County Public Schools server outage

Washington County Public Schools is trying to recover student data — including grades and attendance records — that was apparently not properly backed up and permanently lost following a minor fire that downed multiple servers more than a week ago.

Some servers were quickly restored, but the one supporting the district's Synergy student system that stores student information — including attendance records, grades and schedules — has created the most challenges for technology staffers.

Synergy powers the school system's ParentVue and StudentVue programs, which provide parents and students access to that information. Both have been inaccessible since the server outage, dating to April 29.

Technology officials estimate the system will be back up and running next week. But some data apparently cannot be recovered, including elementary report cards for the third marking period and all grades entered for the fourth marking period, according to an email that went out to staff members Monday.

"Technology Department staff have been working through the weekend to restore and verify student information, attendance records and grades," a news release issued Monday on the WCPS website reads. "We appreciate your patience, and we apologize for the inconvenience, as we work to ensure we are providing accurate, up-to-date information about your student in the system."

In the release, district officials said that "adequate backups of the system’s information were not properly maintained through a third-party vendor."

In an interview on Tuesday, schools Superintendent Boyd Michael said WCPS technology staffers have made "great progress" toward rectifying the situation, working up to 14-hour days alongside the district's outside vendors and support companies.

"It's something we obviously need to correct long-term," he said. "I'm confident we're going to be able to provide appropriate grading for students and get this recovered as quickly as we can."

The lost student data will require some information to be recreated or re-entered, if still available. The district said it realizes teachers track grades differently and would offer options to help develop or re-enter "a fair grade for students at this point."

Asked to elaborate how the lost grading data would be replaced, Michael said administrators are still working on "a detailed plan" to assist teachers with that process.

"It'll be very clear to them what to do," he said. "... We still have the bulk of the marking period ahead."

It's the second time in recent weeks that school system officials have blamed an outside third-party for problems with district systems.

Earlier this week, officials said they would be switching phone service providers, from Vonage to Verizon, over intermittent system outages. Issues could persist until the transition is completed, which is estimated to take 45 to 60 days.

The latest problem began after smoke from a small mulch fire outside the school system's Center for Education Services was pulled through the building's ventilation system and subsequently piped into a server room.

That triggered an automatic fire alarm and a fire suppression system that uses a chemical to remove all oxygen from the air to extinguish flames.

"Unfortunately, sometimes, it triggers issues with computer systems," Michael said during a Washington County Board of Education meeting on May 1.

Jamie Drawbaugh, deputy chief with The Vol. Fire Company of Halfway, which responded for the call, said it's likely the smoke condition stemmed from smoldering mulch that had just been spread two days earlier.

"Mulch, sometimes because it's decomposing, it can spontaneously combust," he said.

Most information collected through April 27 is expected to be recovered and back online by early next week, with all grades and assignments from the first and second marking periods still in the system, according to officials.

Additionally, scheduling data for next school year has been lost and attendance information after April 27 will have to be re-entered by clerical staff once the system is back online.

District officials said the experience has prompted changes and fixes to improve on the school system's backup servers, such as having both on-site and cloud-based backups.

"WCPS has been in the process of creating a full duplication of our system at the former central office building for several months, and it should be in place prior to the new school year," the email to staff reads. "This implementation will help us avoid any longterm outage of the Synergy Student System in the future."