For most high school seniors, the months leading up to graduation are supposed to be about looking ahead: finishing applications, polishing college essays and figuring out what comes next.
But for one Richmond Public Schools student, that future feels a little less certain.
Avin Cassidy-Eversoll, a 17-year-old senior at Open High School, said he logged into his district-issued Chromebook last Wednesday morning expecting business as usual — but instead, he was met with a “scary” message.
“We’ve taken over all your access, we have all your information, and if you don’t meet our demands, we’re gonna sell it,” Avin said, recalling some of the text that appeared on his screen.
“The incident is not affecting the safety of students or staff,” the release stated. “As a precaution, we have temporarily taken internet access offline.”
Avin admitted that at first, he felt relief from having to do schoolwork, but as the hours and uncertainty progressed, dread started to settle in.
“I started getting more nervous because all my college applications are approaching soon, and I was like, ‘I don’t know how I’m going to be able to access them,’” he said.
Avin doesn’t have a computer at home. He relies on his district-issued Chromebook, and the essays he’s already written for college applications are saved under his school account. Even if he could borrow or find another computer, it wouldn’t necessarily give him access to his work.
According to an Oct. 23 district memo sent by RPS Superintendent Jason Kamras and obtained by VPM News, the cybersecurity breach is being investigated by local and state authorities, including the FBI’s Cyber Crimes Division and the Virginia State Police’s Virginia Fusion Center.
“We have no evidence at this time suggesting that any data about RPS employees have been misused or published to the dark web as a result of this incident,” Kamras’ memo stated.
But due to the nature of cybersecurity incidents, Kamas warned, personal information may have been exposed. “We sincerely regret any concern this incident may have caused you,” he wrote.
In the memo, Kamras acknowledged that the district is entrusted with a wide range of sensitive personal information: names, dates of birth, addresses, driver’s license numbers, Social Security numbers, benefits information (including health insurance policy numbers) and even limited medical information.
In addition to an alternative network system and new Chromebooks for teachers, the district is also offering free credit monitoring to staff, families and students.
VPM News’ request to interview Kamras was approved, but later canceled. The district also did not respond to written questions by publication. These questions included a financial outlook at the estimated costs associated with the alternative network setup and outside cybersecurity firm. In addition, VPM News asked if the district was asked to pay ransom and to confirm whether all RPS cameras, door locks and security systems are online and working.
In a press release Friday afternoon, the district said critical safety systems remain “operational and secure.”
“While we share a common goal of bringing the cybercriminals to justice on behalf of our community, we cannot comment on the status of the ongoing investigations,” the release states.
RPS acknowledged that brief internet outages and system interruptions are creating additional challenges, but said it is addressing issues as quickly as possible.
But as the network remains offline, Avin said, he and his senior class of about 30 students are running out of time.
“Since I had the hack on my computer, I wasn’t able to access anything,” Avin said. “It really cut that process of me being able to finish up my applications and submit them on time, and for even my teachers to even be able to write my recommendation letter and turn those in on time.”
Early action and early decision college application deadlines usually fall in early November.
“I’m definitely, like, really scared right now,” Avin said. “Since I’m applying to a lot of nursing programs, you have to submit early action, or else you’re not even going to be able to apply to the nursing programs until you’re in your junior year of college.”
Avin said anxiety and fear is shared at the school. He said most of his senior friends are “freaking out” as they try to navigate an already high-pressure period of their lives without knowing when the technology they depend on will be available.
And while the district has provided an alternative network as of Monday, Avin said it lags and technology access has been limited.
“It’s very slow, and no one’s able to do anything still,” Avin said. “And since my school Chromebook — like the district-assigned one — was the one that was hacked, I have to wait to get a completely new one, and I don’t know how long that’s going to take.”
He’s also still unable to access the district’s PowerSchool portal.
According to the district’s website, PowerSchool gives families “convenient access to important student information” and helps them stay connected to a student’s “academic journey.” The platform hosts students’ grades, attendance, class information, schedules and graduation progress.
The district switched from its previous student information system, Aspen, to PowerSchool for the 2026–27 school year.
Avin said the disruption isn’t limited to students preparing for college. He described a school day in which even familiar classroom routines have become difficult. Students use district technology to access assignments and complete schoolwork; teachers rely on it to access curriculum, print lessons and keep classrooms running.
Avin said his schoolwork at RPS is “very technologically dependent.”
In English, he said, his class’ reading of Mary Shelley’sFrankensteinhas been disrupted because they don’t have access to physical books and are instead dependent on their teachers making copies of each chapter. (In an Oct. 26 update, the district said it was working with a vendor to make school copiers accessible.)
Visitors are also restricted due to the sign-in system, Raptor, being down. That impacts Open High classes taught by Virginia Commonwealth University students and outside partners.
In addition to the impact on daily schoolwork and college applications, Avin said he’s worried about his personal information being leaked — and whether systems tied to school safety were accessed or compromised.
“I’ve been really scared about that,” he said. “Like, if they stole my information and someone uses it for harm. This really can just end my whole career — like before I even get it started.”
