MEMORANDUM

Memo To:   All Buffalo Teachers

From:         Philip Rumore, President, BTF

Date:          March 15, 2021

Subject:     Ransomware Attack/Other Updates

Ransomware Attack
As you now know, our Friday email to you was correct. There was not just an interruption, but an attack on the District’s system.

We, as have you, have received no new information except for the attached email (Click Here) that you may have also received, in additional to the one sent by the Superintendent.

We checked with our computer company, who described the backup system we have at BTF, as state of the art, since we are always updating it.

Asked what we should advise teachers, they, as we stated on Friday, said to be careful to not open, open a link to save, etc. any unknown or questionable emails.

Please advise your LRS of any problems you are having with your personal computer, personal information, etc.

We will be holding the District responsible for any damages or costs incurred as a result of this incident. To report issues, please contact your LRS (Click Here).

We are also working with our State Affiliate, NYSUT, to obtain information they have from other school districts that have been hacked. Thus far they advised changing any passwords for non-school district accounts that use the same passwords on District systems.

We will forward more information as soon as it is received.

Please also report any other issues, e.g. heating.

Note: Letter to Superintendent (Click Here).

COVID Vaccination Leave
The legislation that, as you have read in our emails, would provide four (4) hours of paid leave time to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, was signed by the Governor on Friday, March 12, 2021. It was effective on that date.

It would cover each vaccination. It is, however, not retroactive.

Until the District has issued procedures, you should apply through your administrator and indicate the date(s). You should also check to see if the District’s platform is up and apply as you would for any similar absence/leave, e.g. cancer screening.

We will be working with the District to have the information available.

Response to BTF Concurrent (Simultaneous) Instruction Survey
We sent the survey out on Friday evening. We already have 275 responses. Remember, this is for teachers who are currently teaching concurrently, which apparently all teachers will be expected to implement.

We will be releasing the results as soon as more are tabulated.

PR:su