Incoming seniors at Evanston Township High School who want to park on campus must re-register for the student parking lottery by Sunday, July 26, even if they already signed up through the school's old system.

The district announced Monday, July 20, that the annual parking lottery was delayed by the ransomware attack that hit ETHS on Sunday, June 7, knocking out core servers for approximately one month. Because the previous registration platform, myETHS, was compromised in the attack, prior sign-ups are not being carried over. Every senior who wants a spot must start fresh through a temporary application process.

What seniors need to know

Only students entering Grade 12 are eligible for the lottery. The deadline is Sunday, July 26. Registration details and the new application link are posted at eths202.org/parking, which the district updated Monday, July 20.

The district has not publicly disclosed how many permits will be available or what the cost will be through the temporary process. The 2026-27 school year begins Monday, August 24, giving the district about a month to allocate permits after the registration window closes.

A summer of disruption

The parking lottery is the latest routine upended by the June cyberattack. The ransomware incident shut down the school's systems, internet services, and computer infrastructure, forcing ETHS to close campus and cancel summer school and sports camps, according to a Patch report published in early June. The district engaged cybersecurity forensic experts and cooperated with the FBI.

Reine Hanna, ETHS District 202 director of communications, told ABC7 Chicago on Monday, June 8, that it was the first time the district had experienced such an attack.

In a July 16 letter to the ETHS community, Superintendent Dr. Marcus A. Campbell acknowledged the scale of the damage. He wrote that the district was unable to access its core servers for approximately one month while specialists worked to contain the incident and begin recovery. Campbell told families that back-to-school would look different, with new technology platforms, updated procedures, and some services rolled out in phases.

"There will be new routines to learn, temporary workarounds, and, inevitably, things that don't go exactly as we hoped," Campbell wrote in the July 16 letter. "We'll be transparent, we'll keep communicating, and we'll keep moving forward together."

What's next

Seniors should register at eths202.org/parking before the Sunday, July 26, deadline. The district has said additional services and systems will continue coming back online in phases as the school year approaches.