Traverse City Area Public Schools (TCAPS) is investigating a "network disruption" that prompted the district to immediately disconnect access to its network, bring in a specialized third-party cybersecurity firm, and close school for at least Monday and possibly Tuesday.

In an email sent to TCAPS staff Saturday night, the district said it was "investigating a network disruption that impacted the functionality and access of certain systems. Upon discovery of this incident, TCAPS immediately disconnected access to the network and promptly engaged a specialized third-party cybersecurity firm and IT personnel to assist with securing the environment, as well as to conduct a comprehensive investigation to determine the nature and scope of the incident. Since the forensic investigation remains ongoing, we will provide additional updates as more information becomes available. We appreciate your patience as we continue to assess this situation."

As a result of the incident, TCAPS classes will be canceled Monday. "The potential that classes will be canceled on Tuesday is unknown at this time," the district wrote. "We anticipate communicating that information on Sunday night or Monday morning."

In an effort to "expedite the investigation," TCAPS asked staff to do the following:

> Refrain from using any TCAPS systems until more communication is shared
> Once systems become available, reset passwords and multi-factor authentication
> At some point on Monday or possibly Tuesday, staff will be asked to bring staff laptops on site in order to get crucial network upgrades. "It is currently uncertain whether upgrades can be pushed out to all devices or if it will require a manual upgrade," the district wrote.

"Protecting the integrity of our systems and the information we maintain is critically important to us," the district wrote. "While we already have robust measures in place to protect against these types of incidents, we are committed to taking additional steps to further enhance our safeguards moving forward."