Photo Caption: (Left) Student in a computer lab encounters the district’s webfiltering while browsing online. (Right) Students browsing on his Chromebook completing class assignments. Photos: Sakara Harris
October 23, 2023
By Amiyah Singleton
Staff Writer
One of the rumors that goes around West Brook High School is that cellphone signal is blocked on campus by cell phone jamming equipment.
Beaumont ISD IT Director Toni McPherson explained the district does not block cell phone signals on school property because that would be illegal and violate Federal Communications Commission (FCC) guidelines.
“It is illegal for anyone to utilize any type of blocker or jammer to block cell or radio signals,” she said.
Cellphone jamming equipment is regulated by the FCC, a U.S. government agency in the legislative branch that reports directly to Congress, McPherson said.
The law states, "The use of a phone jammer, GPS blocker, or other signal jamming device designed to intentionally block, jam, or interfere with authorized radio communications is a violation of federal law. There are no exemptions for use within a business, classroom, residence, or vehicle."
Each person’s cell phone provider is responsible for providing service to cell phones, McPherson said. Cell Phone companies like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, Spectrum and Cricket use cell towers to give service to their customers.
“You may see these extremely tall cell phone towers installed all over–especially in densely populated areas,” she said. “The reason your cell phone signal drops when you are in a remote location such as camping in a forest or driving through a sparsely populated area is because you are too far away from a cell phone tower. Another reason that you may have poor signal is due to environmental factors or building construction.”
West Brook’s campus is mostly built with concrete cinder blocks, which can block cell signals.
“Your school [has] concrete walls reinforced with rebar,” McPherson said. “It is hard for cell signals to travel through so many different walls. This is why you may get a signal in the cafeteria or close to the door or window, but not inside the bathroom in the middle of the hall.
“Metal roofs will also cause poor cell signals. You may have experienced this in some restaurants.
Environmental factors can also make cell phone signal worse.
“Cell signals are absorbed by trees in a forest or in the mountains,” McPherson said. “The weather can even diminish your cell signal as it is hard for signals to travel through different weather patterns.”
Since cellphones are against school policy, students and staff are not allowed to connect their cellphones to Beaumont’s ISD WiFi networks.
“All district devices are protected with security software and antivirus protection, and the district is able to trace the device and the software on it,” she said. “This helps us keep you and your PII safe. Any device or piece of software that is unknown to us is a vulnerability and could compromise not only the district's network, but also your personal identifying information."
Cyberattacks have increased on K-12 school districts in the last several years since many districts do not have funding, staff or resources for cybersecurity, McPherson said. In November 2019, Port Neches Groves had a ransomware attack, causing the district to lose access to most of their files and computers and cost the district $2,000 of their insurance deductible.
“Many companies and districts have cybersecurity insurance to help assist with costs when an event occurs, but it is often not enough to cover the entire incident and its aftermath,” she said.
How to prevent viruses
Beaumont ISD’s IT department actually deals with cybersecurity threats, McPherson said.
“If you suspect that your district device has a virus, please notify your teacher or the BISD Technology Department as soon as possible,” she said. “The district utilizes several different tools to prevent and combat viruses. These tools are installed on internal equipment that helps provide service to the district as well as every single computing device."
Software on any electronic device usually helps prevent viruses, but the tool doesn’t detect or get rid of the virus, so you may have to talk to a computer technician, she said. Sometimes, if the virus cannot be uninstalled, the device has to be replaced entirely.
“If there are multiple computers using the same system, the goal is to isolate the virus and mitigate the spread,” McPherson said. “This is very similar to a human virus like COVID-19.”
McPherson also said the IT department handles all internet issues, both hardwired and wireless. Often, people who work in this department have titles like network engineer, network technician, or network administrator.
Identify theft prevention
Personally identifying information can be used to hack into your account, McPherson said.
“PII can include your name, birthday, social security number, address, phone number, drivers license number, email address, student information, and any banking information,” she said. “Users should practice caution when using any of this information online or over the phone. Verify the website as legitimate and always double-check the caller. Unfortunately, everyone is vulnerable to a cyberattack.”
Anyone can use credit monitoring and identity theft protection services to protect themselves, she said, but you should be aware that they are just as vulnerable to an attack. Anytime you are asked for personal information, you should ask why they need it, if they have a data privacy agreement, and what protections they use in the event of a cyberattack.
Beaumont ISD checks every software we install to make sure they have a cybersecurity and data privacy agreement, McPherson said. The IT department also tracks which softwares they install that have data breaches.
Students and staff offered their perspective on cellphone service at school and cybersecurity.
“I think [our cybersecurity] is very accurate and up to date, but we can always improve,” Coach Michael Ryals said. If his account were to be compromised, he said, “I would feel violated because that’s my personal information and shouldn’t be given out.”
Professional Communication teacher Renwick Johnson said he feels secure about Beaumont ISD’s networks because the tech team does amazing work with the firewalls and preventing cyberattacks.
Assistant Principal Petula Whitfield said our cybersecurity is very important, but we can constantly improve and awareness is key. If her account was hacked, she said, “I would be extremely angry and want to prosecute to the fullest extent of the law, because they broke the law.”
Assistant Principal Kevin Johnson said staff and students should consider changing their password once a month.
“I would feel responsible because there’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t need to get out because I have all the student’s info that shouldn’t get out.”
Associate Principal Billie Cisneros said Beaumont ISD’s IT department helps administrators see if students are accessing inappropriate websites.
“Also, we get alerted when a student says or does something that could harm themselves or others,” she
said. “Hacking into an employee’s account could cause huge problems because you could access student information and all student information is private.
“In my opinion, anyone who does such a terrible thing should face the most serious consequences.”
McPherson said anyone can track cyberattacks online and ee cyberattacks occurring live by visiting https://threatmap.
checkpoint.com.
You can also see a map of all cyberattacks on K-12 schools at https://www.k12six.org/map.
“Cyber warfare is very real,” she said. “If there is a physical conflict happening between two countries, you are likely to see an uptick in the cyberattacks from one of those countries to the other. Pay close attention to where a lot of the cyberattacks are initiating from. Russia is well-known for advanced hacking groups.”
