MCPS has experienced poor internet connection across the county since Sept. 25, derailing many lessons and affecting student learning.

Although the network works properly in the morning, it disconnects fourth period and remains inconsistent for the remainder of the day.

MCPS Chief Technology Officer Pete Cevenini issued a statement regarding the issue Sept. 27 via e-mail.

“We believe the issue is the result of an attack on our network. Today we suffered another attack on our network that resulted in intermittent connectivity,” Cevenini said. “The malicious attempts were quickly identified and thwarted.”

Without internet connection, Chromebooks and other technology became inoperable and forced teachers to modify their lesson plans.

“The past couple of days [our lessons] were slightly impacted but not significantly because I had [paper] workarounds,” history teacher Adjua Adama said. “Today we had a test so I had to make sure we had paper copies in case we were hit again.”

The county has taken additional measures to prevent any future attacks to the network and to minimize the impact of these interruptions on student learning, Cevini said.

“Again, we apologize for the disruption in service and know that this affects your ability to teach and learn,” he said. “Our goal continues to be providing you with the best technology services and support.”