05/08/2026
Notice to MCS Family Members
We want to make you aware of a recent update related to a cybersecurity incident involving Instructure, the parent company of Canvas, the statewide learning management system used by Mitchell County Schools. On May 6, 2026, State Superintendent Maurice "Mo" Green notified North Carolina Public School Units (PSUs) that Instructure was impacted by a national data incident.
Based on the current status of the investigation, NCDPI and Instructure believe that the unauthorized party accessed data tables that include student and staff names and school-assigned email addresses. Instructure has indicated that this compromised data "appears to include personal information" primarily limited to these directory-level details.
At this time, Instructure has found no indication that passwords, dates of birth, government identifiers (such as Social Security numbers), or financial information were involved.
NCDPI has already notified appropriate law enforcement agencies, including the NC Department of Information Technology, who are actively investigating this incident. Instructure has reported that the vulnerability has been addressed and the incident is contained.
We want to assure you that Mitchell County Schools and NCDPI take the security of student and educator data with the utmost seriousness and are following all state incident reporting requirements.
What You Need to Know:
Stay Alert: Please do not open any suspicious links or emails related to this incident. Because names and email addresses were involved, users should remain alert for phishing attempts or suspicious communications.
Verify Sources: If an email or message feels "off," it probably is. Do not engage with anyone claiming to have access to this data.
Account Safety: Since passwords were not compromised, no forced password resets are required at this time; however, users are encouraged to remain diligent with account security.
Ongoing Monitoring: For the latest technical information directly from the vendor, you may monitor https://status.instructure.com.
As we continue to work through this incident, we are committed to supporting our students, families, and staff with transparency and care. We will be in touch with more information as we learn more from NCDPI or Instructure.
Mitchell County Schools