By EMELINE HAWKINS

For the Northwest New

HUNTERTOWN — The Northwest Allen County School Board met April 10 and heard updates on data security and other issues.

Chief Technology Officer Seth Slater reviewed existing safety and security postures from the last 18 months while also establishing goals for the future.

According to data from Slater, Indiana schools have reported more than 50 attempted cyber attacks in the last 18 months.

Slater also mentioned several national examples of cyber threats, such as the Los Angeles Public Schools, the Chicago Public Schools, the New York City Department of Education and Albuquerque Public Schools incidents.

“We don’t want to be the next school in the news,” Slater said, as he described schools as “soft targets.”

He cited the costs associated with cyber attacks and data breaches as well as precautions, including multi-factor authentication and digital literacy training for students and staff.

Slater stressed that students or staff should be cautious about opening emails that might be questionable. He also highlighted the importance of password complexity, making sure passwords have at least 12 characters, one uppercase letter as well as a special symbol. Those specific requirements make it much harder for someone to hack a password.

In other business:

• Summer school registration has begun. There are nearly 390 students signed up for summer freshman PE, by far the highest attended summer school class.

• In the recent Schools vs. Cancer campaign fundraiser, nine NACS schools raised more than $55,000 for the American Cancer Society. Each school gets 7% back, half of which will go toward the school physical education program, and the other half toward prizes for students who participated.

“We began this back in 2021. We added three more schools this year,” Chief Communications Officer Lizette Downey said.

As part of the fundraising efforts, teachers were shaved and slimed, letting all have a good time for a good cause.

• The board also recognized elementary student Ethan Eldridge for winning the regional geography contest. He will now advance to the national level and will travel to Washington, D.C., for the competition.

• The next board meeting is Monday, April 24, at 6 p.m. at Perry Hill Elementary School, in the gymnasium.