Daily Announcements slideshow hacked 

Recently, Ventura High School’s Daily Announcements slideshow has been flooded with troubling news. Instead of the upcoming events and reminders usually provided to students, the daily announcements are filled with gossip about students, embarrassing photos, fake events and much more.

It is unclear how the culprits gained access to the slideshow, but administrators have been unable to regain any type of access. This includes the ability to remove the slideshow link from the official school website. As a result, the website was reconfigured and given a new design that makes it more difficult to find the link to the announcement slideshows. The goal was to deter people from viewing the embarrassment that is the announcements. 

Much of VHS staff has voiced frustration at the changes to the bulletin. Assistant principal Mary Spise, who is supposed to be in charge of the slideshow, said, “I can’t understand who would do something so senseless. Now, how will everyone remember the information from October?”

However, not everyone shares the same concerns. VHS teacher Tanya Gordon said, “Do not tell anyone I told you this, but truthfully these new announcements are a nice change of pace. Usually I don’t show them to my class because they’re so boring and outdated. Now, those announcements are the highlight of my day.”

The hacking first began in mid-March, and weeks later the case remains unsolved. Administration has involved the Ventura Police Department to help catch the hacker. Principal Mariah Robert said, “We’re working diligently to return the daily announcements to what they once were. We consider whoever is partaking in this act of vandalism will be caught. In the meantime, I urge students and staff to avoid the slideshow while we work to regain control.”

VHS Resource Officer Thomas Golden said, “We suspect that whoever is behind this is most likely a student. They have access to information that only a student would know or care about.”

He added, “Off the record, it honestly seems like a harmless prank to me, but the office is taking it personally.”

Despite her message to students, the slideshow is getting more views than ever before. Unlike before, the new announcements are updated daily and display only the news that is still relevant. 

 Administration has been unable to find who is responsible, but vow they will face a harsh consequence- being forced to read through all 60 of the original slides.