The Renaissance Letter: Harvey School District 152 experiences cybersecurity breach and data theft
Here are the top five things to know about Harvey and the south suburbs for the week of Jan. 13, 2025.
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Fires, cybersecurity hacks, and heating issues at Harvey schools. Here are the top five things to know about Harvey and the south suburbs for the week of Jan. 13, 2025.
5. Firefighters battle two residential blazes near the downtown Harvey area
Two fires broke out in within hours of each other last Friday. Around 12:30 PM, a fire scorched a home on 152nd St. and Loomis Ave. Firefighters from Harvey, Riverdale, Calumet Park, Phoenix, Posen, Homewood, Markham, and Tinley Park were on scene. Nearly two hours later, another blaze broke out around the corner on 152nd St. and Lexington Ave.
Residents have complained that city officials and first responders are silent on public safety issues, namely gun violence and fires. Three months ago, another fire broke out in the downtown Harvey area on 155th St. and Center Ave. But even as criticism grows and concerns about the viability of Harvey’s fire personnel and equipment flares, Mayor Chris Clark is ducking the conversation. [full video of Loomis Ave. fire]
4. Commercial properties appeals assessed lower than market values, report finds
A new report from the Cook County Assessor’s Office suggests that appraisals submitted as part of appeals for commercial properties are often under assessed than market value. And if they’re commonly accepted by the appeals bodies, it’s one factor that can shift the tax burden to other property owners, including homeowners. The analysis comes after a year of historically high tax bills, where a perfect storm of appeals, reassessments, and a lapse in COVID-19 related exemptions created a tax bill nightmare for south suburbanites. [read the full analysis]
3. Heating issues at WHD SD147 schools in Dixmoor
Parents at West Harvey-Dixmoor School District 147 are fuming after school officials told students they were prohibited from wearing jackets in freezing classrooms unless it’s school paraphernalia. That left many students students without a resource to keep them warm.
Rosa L. Parks Middle School and Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School classrooms were freezing last week as the temperatures plummeted into the teens. Neither school nor district officials raised the issue to parents, wrote Lizzie Welch, a parent and WHD SD147 2025 board candidate, in an email to the HWH.
The district shifted to e-learning last week momentarily during the chill out. In Jan. 2024, the district was criticized over a similar incident in which students were prohibited from wearing coats or jackets in freezing classrooms.
2. Harvey park district director appointed to Cook County Board of Commissioners
Longtime head of the city’s park district Kisha McCaskill was appointed to the county’s 5th District board commissioner seat in a tense process last Friday, beating out other south suburban politicos. The seat became vacant after Monica Gordon became Cook County Clerk last year. The selection committee consisted of Democratic committeepersons from townships and wards represented by most or all of the 5th District. McCaskill represents one of only three Black women serving on the Board, and thanked former commissioner Deborah Sims, who held the seat for 28 years before retiring in 2022, for her impact on women in politics. [full story]
1. HSD 152 gets hacked with family and educator data stolen
The online system parents, teachers, and students use for class management and alerts at Harvey School District 152 experienced a cybersecurity breach. In a letter to parents dated Jan. 10, Superintendent Reginald Lawrence confirmed an incident of “unauthorized access to certain PowerSchool SIS customer data.” The letter does not specify exactly how many individuals were impacted by the breach or the source of the hack.
Data stolen included parent and student contact information like name and address. Some medical data was accessed for other individuals. The district does not use social security numbers in PowerSchool, Lawrence noted. There is an ongoing investigation to determine whether personal identifiable information belonging to students was included in the hack.
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