The Leadership Imperatives for K-12 Cybersecurity in the Age of AI - Key findings and leadership imperatives

Oct 15, 2026

The report outlines leadership priorities for K-12 cybersecurity as districts face rising cyber threats and data privacy challenges. Drawing on feedback from 2,310 district technology leaders and a study conducted with iboss and Project Tomorrow, it highlights how AI and emerging technologies increase urgency. It identifies five key cybersecurity realities and frames new leadership imperatives for district technology leaders, emphasizing long-term strategies, district collaboration, clear policy guidance, root-cause analysis, and ecosystem-wide response.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Key findings from the 2025 iboss-Project Tomorrow National Research on K-12 Cybersecurity

Introduction

Five key cybersecurity realities and leadership imperatives

The Leadership Imperatives for K-12 Cybersecurity in the Age ofAI 2025 iboss-Project Tomorrow National Research on K-12 Cybersecurity The Leadership Imperatives for K-12 Cybersecurity in the Age of AI Key ﬁndings from the 2025 iboss-Project Tomorrow National Research on K-12 Cybersecurity “Cybersecurity is not just a technical concern—it is a leadership priority. In today’s digital landscape, district leaders must move beyond reactive measures and establish long-term cybersecurity strategies. This includes leveraging emerging technologies like AI, fostering district collaboration, and driving policy changes at the state and national levels.”i Tom Ryan and Lenny Schad Former CIO's and Co-Founders K12 Strategic Technology Advisory Group Introduction In this highly dynamic education environment, today’s K-12 technology leaders need be both nimble and adaptive. Nimble to address changing expectations from leadership and stakeholders about the role of traditional technologies within learning (i.e., online curriculum, student devices, social media); adaptive to understanding how to effectively evaluate and implement emerging technologies to better meet their district vision for learning in 2025 and beyond (i.e., Generative AI, immersive technologies, robotics) . In both contexts, cybersecurity and in particular data protection and privacy continue to be critical issues within schools and districts today. Central to this reality is an increasing tension for K-12 technology leaders: How to effectively leverage both traditional and emerging technologies to support student learning and future-ready skill development while at the same time being strategic and forward thinking about what is required to protect district infrastructure and digital assets from nefarious actors with bad intentions. As noted in the quote from Tom Ryan and Lenny Schad, both former K-12 district Chief Information Officers, the solution is this tension isnot a quick technical ﬁx or new product implementation. Rather, what is needed today is a new type of K-12 technology leadership that understands both the technical and human sides of today’s digital landscape. Since 2017, Project Tomorrow® has been collecting and sharing the views of K-12 leaders about cybersecurity issues through our annual Speak Up® Research Project. For the past six years, we have collaborated with iboss on a highly targeted study that examines the state of K-12 cybersecurity awareness and preparation in our nation’s school districts from the perspective of technology leadership. The ﬁndings from this research regularly inform the policies and initiatives of K-12 school districts nationwide. Our nation’s K-12 CIOs and CTOs understand what is at stake today with cybersecurity. According to the latest Project Tomorrow research, two-thirds of K-12 district leaders (67%) say that addressing cyber threats and protecting district assets is their number 1 most challenging issue today. District leaders (55%) identify establishing and enforcing Generative AI policies and guidelines as their second most important challenge. These top two challenges are inevitably linked. When asked about current risks for a cyberattack, 88% of district leaders said they believe that K-12 schools and districts are at a higher risk today than ever before. The potential use of AI within cyber-attacks is often cited as the reason for that increased risk today. Given that context, our focus in this year’s state of cybersecurity report is on both understanding what has changed in K-12 cybersecurity over the past few years as well as reﬂecting on the potential impact of Artiﬁcial Intelligence (AI) as it relates to cybersecurity. Both views are important to understand the current context for cybersecurity leadership in our K-12 districts. Using feedback from 2,310 district technology leaders representing a diverse set of K-12 districts nationwide, this year’s report, The Leadership Imperatives for K-12

FAQs

What leadership shift does the report emphasize for K-12 cybersecurity?

It emphasizes moving beyond reactive, purely technical fixes toward long-term cybersecurity strategies led by district leaders with both technical and human understanding.

What research evidence does the report cite for its conclusions?

It uses feedback from 2,310 district technology leaders and summarizes findings from the 2025 iboss-Project Tomorrow National Research on K-12 Cybersecurity.

What five realities drive the report’s leadership imperatives?

They include increased urgency from awareness, communicating cybersecurity value in the audience’s language, performing root-cause analysis, adopting a districtwide ecosystem approach, and using AI as both opportunity and threat.

Oct 15, 2026

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