‘Security Breach’ Targeted Taunton Public Schools, City Hall in March

After weeks of speculation, Taunton city officials confirmed on Tuesday, April 22, that the prolonged computer network issues that Taunton Public Schools and City Hall experienced in March were due to a "security breach." 

During the April 22 City Council Committee on Finance & Salaries meeting, Councilor John McCaul called the technological issues a "security breach."

According to a report by the Taunton Daily Gazette, McCaul asked Taunton's Chief Financial Officer Patrick Dello Russo whether a $600,000 funding request for new school computers was connected with the "security breach” last month.

Dello Russo confirmed that the request was unrelated but didn't argue against the statement that a security breach had occurred, stating, “That's not indicative of what the request from the School Department is.” Dello Russo said the age of the computers prompted the request for funds. No officials present at the meeting disputed the use of the term "security breach."

McCaul said he asked because “there had been a lot of scuttlebutt about this.” 

The Gazette reported that McCaul fielded dozens of phone calls from constituents who questioned both the reported technology issues and the $600,000 funding request, and “he just wanted to clear the air” for the public. 

According to the Gazette, the city's finance department requested that $600,000 be transferred from the city's Capital Project Stabilization Account to buy 1,925 new computers for Taunton Public Schools.

“The purchase will replace technology that is either at the scheduled end of life or is otherwise technologically obsolete,” Superintendent of Schools John Cabral said in a letter to Mayor Shaunna O'Connell dated April 10.

In response to McCaul's “why now?" question, Dello Russo said the city is already investing approximately $1.5 million to $2 million in new technology for the new public safety complex for police and fire teams. According to Dello Russo, the city wanted to add the schools' purchase of technology to the deal to benefit from a more significant discount on the computer purchases.