This settlement resolves claims that Arrowhead Regional Computing Consortium, the Minnesota technology cooperative that runs computing services for school districts, failed to protect names, Social Security numbers and student educational records taken in a February 2023 intrusion. If you were one of the roughly 65,379 people ARCC notified, a valid claim gets you two years of 3-bureau credit monitoring plus up to $80 for the time you spent dealing with it — and you need the Claim ID and PIN from your mailed notice to file.
Current Status
Claims are open. The deadline to submit a Claim Form is October 8, 2026 — the Notice gives that date for online submissions and requires mailed forms to be postmarked no later than the same day, and it does not specify a cutoff time or timezone. The separate deadline to opt out or object is a month earlier, September 8, 2026. The Court has preliminarily approved the settlement and authorized the notice program, but no final approval order has been entered; the Final Approval Hearing is scheduled for October 12, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. CDT and will be held remotely by Zoom. No payment date had been announced as of August 6, 2026. If a notice reached you, it carries the Claim ID and PIN you need to file online.What Changed Recently?
The Court preliminarily approved the settlement, which opened the claims process and started the notice program run by the Settlement Administrator, Verita Global. That is the event that turned this from a pending case into something a class member can act on.The consolidated case is captioned In re Arrowhead Regional Computing Consortium Data Breach Litigation, Civil No. 69DU-CV-24-184, in the Minnesota Sixth Judicial District Court for St. Louis County, where Judge Nicole L. Hopps is presiding. The complaint alleges that ARCC was negligent in securing personal information and that on February 6, 2023 an unknown third party gained access to its computer systems and exfiltrated data from its servers.
ARCC denies that its actions caused the plaintiffs or class members any damage and does not admit or concede any liability. The Notice states in terms that the settlement establishes no liability and no admission of wrong, and that the Court has not decided whether the plaintiffs or the defendant should win. Both sides say they settled to avoid the uncertainty, risk and expense of continuing to litigate.
Who Qualifies?
The Settlement Class is a nationwide class of all individuals in the United States who received notice of the Data Incident from Arrowhead Regional Computing Consortium — approximately 65,379 people.That definition is unusually simple, and the Notice makes the test explicit: you are a member of the class if you received a notice letter saying your personal identifying information may have been exfiltrated in the Arrowhead Data Incident. There is no purchase to prove, no date range to check against your own records, and no residency requirement — ARCC is based in Minnesota and serves school districts there, but the class is not limited to Minnesota. Class membership is verified against the mailed list the administrator holds.
The class excludes Arrowhead and its officers and directors, anyone who validly opts out, all judges assigned to any part of the litigation along with their staff and immediate family members, and proposed Settlement Class Counsel.
The information involved, according to the complaint, was names, Social Security numbers and student educational records. That combination is why the credit monitoring piece matters more here than the dollar figure: a Social Security number does not expire and cannot be reissued the way a card number can.
How Much Can You Get?
There are two benefits, and the Notice describes them as cumulative rather than as a choice. Class members who submit valid and timely claims are eligible to receive two years of 3-bureau credit monitoring, as well as reimbursement for time spent addressing the Data Incident at $20.00 per hour for up to four hours — a cap of $80.00 per class member. The Claim Form reflects that structure, listing the monitoring as benefit A and the time reimbursement as benefit B on the same page.The time benefit is claimed in whole hours. You check 1, 2, 3 or 4 hours and write a description of what the time was spent on, which means the practical ceiling for most people is $80 and the practical floor is $20. The Notice does not describe a pro rata adjustment, and it does not describe a common settlement fund that the payments are drawn from and divided out of — so unlike most data-breach settlements, the per-person amount here should not shrink as the claim rate rises.
Two other numbers appear in the Notice but do not come out of anyone's benefit. Class Counsel will ask the Court for attorney fees and expenses not to exceed $315,000, payable by the defendant. Class Counsel will also request a service award of up to $1,500 for each named class representative, not to exceed $6,000 in total. The Court decides both amounts at the Final Approval Hearing.
The settlement also carries a non-monetary term: ARCC agreed to provide a declaration, due fourteen days before the Final Approval Hearing, detailing the remedial data-security procedures and business practices it has implemented since the Data Incident and the costs of putting them in place.
Payments are issued by check unless a class member elects to be paid electronically. Checks expire and become void 90 days after they are issued.
What Proof or Claim ID Is Required?
No receipts, bank records, or documentation of losses are requested anywhere in this claim process. What is required is the identifier the administrator assigned you, plus a sworn account of your time.The online claim portal opens on a login screen with two required fields, Claim ID and PIN, both printed on the notice mailed to class members. The portal warns that the Claim ID must be entered exactly as it appears on the notice, including any forward slashes or dashes. The paper Claim Form has the same gate, labeled Class Member ID. Because filing is conditioned on a code that exists only in that mailed notice, this page treats the settlement as Proof Required: Yes.
The time benefit adds a second requirement that is not documentation but is not nothing either. Above the signature line, the Claim Form states that by signing you affirm and attest under penalty of perjury to the accuracy and truthfulness of the time you spent addressing the Data Incident and of your description of how that time related to it. The Notice adds that claims are subject to a verification process. Write a real description of what you actually did — freezing credit, monitoring accounts, replacing documents, making calls — rather than leaving the field blank.
If you cannot find your Claim ID, the Notice directs class members to contact the Settlement Administrator, which can be reached through the contact page on the official settlement website.
What Is the Deadline?
Claim Forms are due October 8, 2026. The Notice gives that date for online submissions and requires mailed Claim Forms to be postmarked on or before it. No cutoff time or official timezone is specified, so this page does not publish one.The opt-out and objection deadlines are both September 8, 2026 — a full month before the claim deadline, which is the trap on this settlement. A Request for Exclusion must be mailed to the Settlement Administrator and postmarked by that date; it cannot be submitted by phone or email. An objection must be mailed, postmarked by the same date, to the Clerk of the Court and to the Settlement Administrator by way of Class Counsel.
How Do You File a Claim?
Filing online is the fastest route. Open the official settlement website, Arrowhead Data Security Settlement.com, go to the claim form, and log in with the Claim ID and PIN from your notice. Select the number of hours you spent, describe the time, and sign electronically.If you prefer paper, the Claim Form can be downloaded from the settlement website and mailed to the Settlement Administrator at the address printed on it, and the administrator will send a paper form on request through the website. Mailed forms must be postmarked by October 8, 2026. Whichever route you take, keep a copy of what you submit.
What If You Want Out — or Want to Object?
Opting out means you get no settlement benefits but keep whatever right you have to sue ARCC on your own over the Data Incident. The Request for Exclusion must be individually signed, mailed to the Settlement Administrator, and postmarked by September 8, 2026, and it must clearly show your intent to be excluded. Each person who wants out has to send their own.Objecting means staying in the class and telling the Court why it should not approve the deal. You cannot do both — a class member who has excluded themselves has no basis to object. A written objection must state the case name and docket number, all grounds for the objection along with any legal support and supporting documents, the identity of any counsel representing you, whether you or your counsel will appear at the Final Approval Hearing, and it must carry your signature or that of your authorized attorney. Class Counsel files all written objections with the Court fifteen days before the claim deadline.
If you do nothing, you stay in the class, receive no benefits, and are bound by the release. That release is broad: it covers past, present and future claims and causes of action related to the Data Incident, including negligence, breach of contract and implied contract, breach of fiduciary duty, invasion of privacy, state consumer-protection and privacy claims, and claims for failure to give adequate breach notice. It does not cover conduct occurring after the Settlement Agreement was executed, and it does not bind class members who validly opt out.
What Happens Next?
The opt-out and objection windows close September 8, 2026, and the claims period closes October 8, 2026. The Final Approval Hearing is set for October 12, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. CDT before the Minnesota Sixth Judicial District Court in St. Louis County, with remote attendance by Zoom. At that hearing the Court will decide whether the settlement is fair, reasonable and adequate, hear any objections, and rule on the fee request and the service awards.The Notice cautions that the hearing date and time can be changed by court order without further notice, so the settlement website is the place to confirm them. It also states that approved claimants are sent a credit monitoring code and, where eligible, a cash payment for time, only after all appeals and other reviews are completed. A hearing being held is not approval being granted, and approval being granted is not benefits being released.
If the mechanics of that timeline are unfamiliar, our explainer on how data breach class actions work walks through the stages between a claim deadline and a check, and the open data breach settlements tracker lists every breach case we cover with its deadline and proof requirement.
Sources and Verification
• Official settlement website — In re Arrowhead Regional Computing Consortium Data Breach Litigation• Long Form Notice and Claim Form (PDF)
• Settlement Agreement, Consolidated Amended Complaint and Answer, posted in the Case Documents section of the official settlement website
• In re Arrowhead Regional Computing Consortium Data Breach Litigation, Civil No. 69DU-CV-24-184, Minnesota Sixth Judicial District Court, St. Louis County
Questions
Do I have to choose between the credit monitoring and the $80?
No. The Notice states that class members who submit valid and timely claims are eligible to receive two years of 3-bureau credit monitoring as well as reimbursement for time spent addressing the Data Incident. The Claim Form lists them as two lettered benefits rather than alternatives, so a single approved claim can produce both the monitoring code and a time payment. The two are claimed on the same form.
Do I need receipts or documents to claim the $80?
No documents are requested for the time benefit. You select 1, 2, 3 or 4 hours, write a description of what you did in response to the Data Incident, and sign the form. The signature block states that you affirm and attest under penalty of perjury to the accuracy and truthfulness of the time claimed and the description of how it related to the Data Incident. A blank or unexplained description gives the administrator nothing to verify, and the Notice says claims are subject to a verification process.
My child is the one whose student records were involved. Who files?
The class is defined as all individuals in the United States who received notice of the Data Incident from Arrowhead, and the Notice says class membership is verified against the administrator's mailed list. The Claim ID and PIN are tied to the individual the notice was addressed to, so the claim is filed for that person using the credentials on that specific notice. If a household received more than one notice, each one carries its own Claim ID and is its own claim.
Why are there two different deadlines a month apart?
They cover different decisions. September 8, 2026 is the deadline to opt out of the settlement or to object to it — both of which have to be decided before the Court rules. October 8, 2026 is the deadline to submit a Claim Form, which is what you do if you are staying in and want the benefits. Missing the September date only forecloses opting out or objecting; you can still file a claim until October 8.
Is there a settlement fund with cash in it?
The Notice does not describe a common settlement fund. It describes benefits paid on approved claims — the credit monitoring and the time reimbursement capped at $80 per class member — and states that attorney fees and expenses, which will not exceed $315,000, are payable by the defendant. Because there is no fund being divided, the amount you receive does not shrink as more people file.
When would benefits actually be issued?
The Notice states that if the Court approves the settlement, class members with approved claims will be sent a credit monitoring code and, if eligible, a cash payment for time, after all appeals and other reviews are completed. The Final Approval Hearing is scheduled for October 12, 2026 at 1:30 p.m. CDT. No payment date had been announced as of August 6, 2026. The Notice also warns that checks expire and become void 90 days after they are issued.
