Westfield High School Staff Back Online After Tech Disruption

WESTFIELD, NJ — Westfield High School staff are back online as the district continues restoring technology and related services after a disruption that has affected schools for the past two weeks.

In an update to staff and families, Superintendent Dr. Raymond Gonzalez said on Friday that district operations continued during the recovery, including elementary Back-to-School Nights.

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"As we close out another long but productive week, I am grateful to report that we continue to make steady progress toward restoring district technology and services," Gonzalez wrote.

He said he visited several elementary Back-to-School Nights on Thursday and saw "teachers and families connecting, along with clocks, bells, and public address systems once again operating as expected."

The latest milestone, according to Gonzalez, is at the high school.

"As of today, Westfield High School staff are back online with access to the systems and tools they regularly use," he wrote.

He said the Technology Department is now working through device configuration for intermediate school staff while preparing to restore elementary staff access over the weekend.

The district said the work is continuing in phases rather than all at once.

"As we have emphasized throughout this process, restoration is being completed carefully and methodically," Gonzalez wrote.

He added that the district continues "to expect secondary student access to begin early next week, followed by elementary students later."

At the same time, the district said outside specialists are still examining the cause of the disruption.

"In parallel with the restoration work, our external cybersecurity and information technology experts continue their review of what caused the disruption and the extent of any unauthorized activity that may have occurred," Gonzalez wrote. "That process is still underway."

Gonzalez also thanked the school community for its response during the outage.

"Over these past two weeks, I have been reminded again and again of the strength of this community," he wrote.

He said staff, students, families, administrators and board members showed patience, flexibility and support.

Looking ahead, Gonzalez said more updates are expected soon as restoration continues.

"We still have work ahead, but each day brings us closer to full restoration," he wrote.

With progress continuing on schedule, Gonzalez said he anticipates providing the next community update on Tuesday and said the district will share information sooner if anything significant arises.

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