ADAMS TWP — Mars Area School District is still working to address and investigate the impact of a cybersecurity incident discovered last week, district officials said Tuesday.

According to a news release posted Monday on the district’s website, the district’s Administration and Technology Team “took immediate action to protect the District systems” from a “cybersecurity incident” reported on Sept. 27, which required the shutdown of school internet and email systems.

“(The district) began a thorough investigation in consultation with outside cybersecurity and data privacy professionals. That investigation is in its early stages and is ongoing,” the press release read. “We are working as quickly as we can to determine the scope and impact of this incident. Our current goals are to remove any and all infections from our systems and make sure all devices are safe.”

Superintendent Mark Gross emphasized Tuesday that further information would be available as the district and its team reviewed the situation. He declined to comment on specifics, but said classes were resuming as normal.

“Even though we had this breach, the educational component of what we are doing has not been compromised,” Gross said. “As soon as information becomes available, and if anyone has been impacted, we will be reaching out.”

“Together, with outside experts, we are reviewing the information that was potentially impacted and working to mitigate potential impacts,” the online statement read. “The District will give appropriate notice to those affected, in accordance with applicable data protection obligations, once we have completed our forensic review.”

Meanwhile, busing route changes and delays for private school students in Mars Area School District were discussed at the Mars Area school board meeting Tuesday night.

The 2022-23 Mars Area budget included some rerouting and consolidation for non-public bus routes that serve private and religious schools, such as Holy Sepulcher Catholic School and Eden Christian Academy, in order to keep up with an ongoing school bus driver shortage.

Parents previously had spoken at a September school board meeting to raise concerns about changes to the private school busing policies at Mars Area.

Holy Sepulcher Catholic School parent Megan Julius, a mother of five, spoke via Zoom on Tuesday to ask board members whether there were any plans to return the bus program to previous conditions.

Julius was frustrated that students attending private schools had longer bus times than in previous years, and that some students were waiting at the Mars Area campus for transfer buses.

“Nothing has happened, nothing has been updated or improved, and we are still seeing that our private school children are riding the bus for extended periods of time,” she said. “Those times have not improved. I know (transportation director Christina Smith) said to give it two weeks and those would improve, but they have not.”

Julius said she and other parents were looking for clarification and communication on how things would be “changed for the better for our children.”

“We’re not asking for special treatment; we’re just asking for equal treatment,” Julius said. “Unfortunately, our kids are still seeing extended bus times when we live very, very close.”

District superintendent Mark Gross did not discuss the issue in detail because Smith was not present at the meeting.

“We have Mars students who actually have somewhat longer bus rides,” Gross said. “I know Mrs. Smith has been working on it and trying to make it as efficient as possible, and make it as equitable as possible, and stay within the confines of the legal parameters that we are under. I’m not happy that people aren’t happy, but right now, according to Mrs. Smith, it’s about as efficient as we can get based on what we have.”

“On the school district side, those children on the private school buses are not on the buses longer than some of the public school children,” board member Megan Lenz added.