Cyberattack disrupts Allentown School District’s virtual campus

ALLENTOWN, Pa. — A cyberattack targeting the financial systems of EdforTech Alliance, the online vendor used by the Allentown School District’s Virtual Campus, temporarily disrupted online learning on Thursday, May 29.

EdforTech Alliance notified the district of the attack when it occurred. The company reported that no student academic data was compromised.

“This only impacted our secondary Virtual Campus students — elementary uses a different platform,” said Melissa Reese, Allentown School District communications manager.

In a message to families Thursday evening, Dr. Robert Dilliplane, director of virtual learning, wrote:

“We have been notified today, Thursday, May 29, 2025, by the online vendor that delivers our virtual curriculum, EdforTech Alliance, that they have experienced a cyberattack on their financial system. EdforTech Alliance has assured us that our students’ academic data was not compromised in this incident. The attack was limited to their financial systems, and we have received confirmation that student information remains secure.”

Students could not access the online curriculum until 2:30 p.m. on Friday, May 30. In the interim, they were required to complete assignments using Smart Futures, an alternative online activity platform. Teachers remained available via Zoom to provide support.

“We understand this news is disruptive, and we apologize for any inconvenience it may cause you and your student,” Dilliplane wrote. “They [EdforTech] are taking all necessary steps to restore their systems.”

Access to the virtual platform was restored by Friday afternoon.

The disruption comes just months after the Allentown School District received a $985,238 cybersecurity grant through the Federal Communications Commission’s Schools and Libraries Cybersecurity Pilot Program.

The district said the funds are part of a broader effort to enhance digital protections for students and staff.

District officials continue to monitor the situation in coordination with EdforTech. No further outages have been reported.