Idaho school districts affected by PowerSchool data breach file lawsuit

BOISE, Idaho — A major data breach involving a school computer system widely used across Idaho has turned into a class-action lawsuit following a cyberattack that exposed sensitive student and staff information.

PowerSchool, a student information system used by parents, teachers and administrators to track grades, attendance and contact information, was hacked in December 2024. The breach affected thousands of families in Idaho and more than 1,000 school districts nationwide.

“It’s one of the largest providers of databases for student information, scheduling, planning, calendars,” said Jerome School District Superintendent Brent Johnson.

According to investigators, hackers gained access to PowerSchool’s systems after sending phishing emails to company employees during the winter of 2024. About a week after the breach occurred, PowerSchool publicly disclosed the nationwide cyberattack.

Court records show that millions of students and staff from more than 6,500 schools nationwide and abroad were affected. In Idaho, the State Board of Education says at least 69 of the 190 school districts that use PowerSchool were impacted, including the Jerome School District.

“They were open and transparent with us about what had happened and working with our tech team on solutions and just kind of confirming integrity of the system,” Johnson said.

PowerSchool later confirmed that some personal information was stolen through one of its customer support portals. State education officials estimate approximately 425,000 student records and 80,000 staff records in Idaho may have been exposed. The data potentially includes names, contact information, birthdates, medical records and, in some cases, Social Security numbers.

In February 2025, school districts nationwide filed a class-action lawsuit against PowerSchool, alleging the company failed to adequately safeguard sensitive data. Several districts in Idaho joined the lawsuit.

The state’s largest district, West Ada School District, voted in November 2025 to join the class action. In a statement, the district said the move was intended to “help protect the interests of our students and staff.” West Ada continues to use PowerSchool.

Jerome School District, however, chose not to join the lawsuit and is also continuing to use the system.

“The student information system is the backbone of what we do and would be very difficult to transfer, and if you look at the cost-benefit analysis of that, moving to a different platform doesn’t prevent you from data breaches,” Johnson said. “This experience has led them to enhance their security measures and really double down on encryption and things like that to prevent it more in the future.”

PowerSchool says it has strengthened its security systems and worked with cybersecurity experts following the breach. The company has also provided free credit monitoring services to those affected.

“They also provided credit monitoring services at no charge for people that had any concerns or anything moving forward to protect their identities and their information further,” Johnson said.

In a statement to KTVB, PowerSchool said, “The key learnings from that report inform everything that we do at PowerSchool as we continue to prioritize and protect the customers, communities and individuals that we serve.”

PowerSchool says that since the breach, hackers have attempted to extort some school districts. The company confirmed it paid a ransom to protect affected data but did not disclose the amount.