Recently, students were having connectivity issues with the school’s WiFi networks. Unbeknownst to administration at the time, students illegally logged into the “School Owned” or “Lab” WiFi networks and stole the passwords.

Almost a third of students were caught abusing the WiFi system, according to headmaster Mr. Famulari.

Students had gained access to WiFi networks within the building reserved for “only school-owned property needing a wireless connection to ensure availability for educational purposes,” wrote Mr. Famulari in an email to PA parents and staff.

When there is an excess of devices on a network, the network slows down, and students working on the Chromebooks or desktops owned by the school had online pages taking longer than usual to load.

Some students hacked the “School Owned” password and shared it throughout the building.

One crucial aspect that students overlooked before logging into the network was that it violated the internet/computer policy in the PA Student Handbook.

“ [Students] will not disclose password and account name to anyone or attempt to ascertain or use anyone else’s password and account name,” says the PA Student Handbook.

Additionally, students “will not attempt to log in to the system as a system administrator.”

By distributing the “School Owned” or “Lab” WiFi network passwords and utilizing the networks, students violated both and were “blacklisted” said Mr. Famulari in the email.

The punishment to all students logged into inappropriate WiFi networks was account termination. The termination of accounts began Monday morning, according to the head of IT Mr. Berube.

According to the PA Student Handbook, system administrators reserve the right to immediately terminate the account or access of a user who “misuse the network resources.”

“It is important to separate personal devices from school owned devices as we cannot control what one may do at home or what they may download on their devices,” said Mr. Berube. “If their device becomes infected with malware or viruses and then they connect to our network, it could cause unnecessary issues related to bandwidth, availability and confidentiality.”

Administration said the WiFi issues will be resolved when a solution to the issue has been fully implemented. When that occurs, terminated accounts will be reinstated and those accounts will be able to log back into the “Personal Devices” WiFi network.