The McAllen Independent School District board of trustees held an emergency meeting Friday afternoon to discuss information technology and the possibility of implementing security measures, although the board took no action and a statement from the district says there are currently no known data threats.
The entirety of the board’s three hour meeting on the topic took place in executive session. District Executive Director of Technology Judith Escamilla was called into the board chambers about one hour into the meeting.
“We called the meeting due to a concern about data security,” a release from the district reads. “We felt if there were an issue, we would need to take immediate action. We can report that there was no known threat to our data but we will continue to monitor our system going forward.”
A district statement specified that the meeting pertained to “communication procedures involving voice, network, and emergency communications.
“Like all school districts, McAllen ISD takes data security very seriously and has extensive safety measures and protocols in place,” it reads.
Superintendent J.A. Gonzalez was not available for comment and Board President Sam Saldivar did not respond to requests for comment.
Rio Grande Valley school districts have not been immune to data breaches in the recent past.
Weslaco ISD fell prey to a ransomware attack in December 2020 that caused learning interruptions, prompted the district to warn parents and staff against releasing information and sparked an FBI investigation.
