Case Study: Greater Amsterdam School District (GASD) achieves network modernization and NYS 2‑d compliance with Fortinet Security Fabric

New York State School District Modernizes its Network and Security Systems with the Fortinet Security Fabric

Greater Amsterdam School District (GASD) in Montgomery County, NY — serving about 4,000 students and 700 staff across five schools — faced rising cyberattacks, tight budgets, a small IT team, and new compliance requirements under New York State Education Law 2‑d (aligned to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework). The district also battled security gaps and complexity from multi‑vendor systems while needing funding to modernize its network and protect remote learners.

GASD expanded its long‑standing Fortinet deployment into a unified Security Fabric—upgrading FortiGate NGFWs and adding FortiMail, FortiXDR, FortiClient, FortiAuthenticator/FortiToken, FortiAnalyzer, FortiSwitch/FortiAP and FortiGuard services—partly financed by federal relief, ARP, E‑Rate and a nearly $1M ECF grant for 1,200 Linksys HomeWRK devices. The overhaul delivered Law 2‑d compliance, stronger threat detection (DPI, email filtering, sandboxing), reduced operational risk and admin time through automation, maintained service during attacks, improved cyber‑insurance posture, and provided secure home internet for disadvantaged students.

GASD

Eric Scholl

Chief Security Officer