(WISH) — Software that contains personal and private information about schoolchildren and teachers has been breached, and Indiana schools are affected. News 8 has reached out to software maker California-based PowerSchool, the Indiana Department of Education, and the Indiana Office of Technology to find out what Indiana schools are affected and how. Neither had responded as of early Thursday night. PowerSchool serves schools in the United States and Canada. A spokesman for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction says PowerSchool informed it of the cybersecurity breach about 2 p.m. Tuesday, according to information from CNN Newsource, which is a News 8 partner. PowerSchool told North Carolina officials that it discovered the breach Dec. 28 after the threat began Dec. 19. Breaches also have been reported in schools across the United States. Brownsburg Schools, Indianapolis Public Schools, and Noblesville Schools are among those affected, News 8 has learned. Brownsburg says the national cybersecurity breach Wednesday night compromised data that could include students names, Social Security numbers, dates of birth, and contact information. “The Indiana Department of Education is filing a possible breach to the Indiana Office of Technology per state code,” the Brownsburg message said. Noblesville’s message to families and staff said, “Unfortunately, some of our Noblesville Schools students and employee data was compromised as part of this breach.” “This unauthorized access was not unique to Noblesville and could not have been prevented locally,” the Hamilton County school district’s message added. PowerSchools website touts endorsements from Career Academy South Bend, and Hamilton Southeastern Schools’ Riverside Intermediate School in Fishers. Career Academy South Bend’s district data coordinator said that endorsement, “PowerSchool has helped our school to navigate, direct, and help parents with their students to access grades, missing assignments, and notes from teachers. PowerSchool has also helped me as a new employee in the school district to revamp and make reports, conflicts, and daily functions become easy.” Some cybersecurity experts nationally were recommending parents secure their children’s credit reports by requesting security freezes from each of the three national credit bureaus. Also, students and parents should change their passwords to PowerSchool. The Brownsburg, Indianapolis and Noblesville districts shared a similar message with parents through other software they use. Here’s what the IPS message says: “We have been notified that our student data software vendor PowerSchool has experienced a widespread cybersecurity data breach. Unfortunately, some of our IPS student and employee data was compromised as part of this breach.  “PowerSchool serves thousands of school districts across the United States and Canada, and many have been impacted. This unauthorized access was not unique to Indianapolis and could not have been prevented locally.  “We take the security of our student and staff data very seriously and upon learning of the PowerSchool incident, our Technology Department immediately began an internal investigation. We have been able to determine that the following data was compromised:  Student directory information (for example, address, phone number). Student demographic information (for example, date of birth, grade in school, grade point average). Student medical alert information (for example, asthma, diabetes). Parent/guardian directory information (for example, address, phone). “Some employee data was also included in the breach.  Employees who have PowerSchool accounts (typically teachers and administrators) had directory information and the last four digits of their social security numbers compromised.  “We are also working with our Indiana agencies and law enforcement partners to ensure ongoing safety of Indianapolis Public Schools data. Having said that, we still recommend you review these Best Practices Following a Data Breach.  “Our IPS Technology Department will have additional conversations with PowerSchool about this breach and will share any additional details as they become available. We also anticipate PowerSchool will be providing impacted individuals with resources for additional information, which we will also share when available.” Message sent Jan. 9, 2025, to families and staff of Indianapolis Public Schools