How Evant ISD Replaced KnowBe4 with Tartan to Maintain Security on a Budget

About Evant ISD

Evant ISD is a 1A school district in central Texas serving 206 students in Pre-K through 12th grade, supported by a team of 45 staff members. In addition to core academic programming, Evant ISD operates an in-house daycare, serves as a P-TECH campus, and runs the ACE after-school program for the surrounding community.

Randy Newby, Technology Director and Cybersecurity Coordinator, leads the district's technology and security efforts—ensuring staff and systems stay protected while supporting day-to-day learning operations.

Challenge: Training Requirements Changed, But Threats Didn't

Like many school districts, Evant ISD has faced shifting requirements around cybersecurity training. While training was previously required for all staff, it is now only required for employees who spend at least 25% of their time on a computer, along with administrators and school board members.

That change created a challenge: risk exposure didn't go away, but consistent training became harder to maintain—especially with a limited budget.

Evant ISD previously used KnowBe4, which provided strong training, but cost eventually became a barrier.

"We used to use KnowBe4, with great training, but we could no longer afford their fees once the training was no longer mandated."

The district currently uses EduHero for training, but Randy still wanted a cost-effective way to bring phishing testing back into the process—along with future remediation opportunities.

Solution: Realistic Phish-Testing That Fits a School Environment

Tartan gave Evant ISD a way to run phishing testing and awareness campaigns without adding heavy operational burden or unrealistic training scenarios.

"Tartan provides 'phish-test' emails that look legitimate and are sent out using our school's Google domain."

The emails are designed to be realistic and effective, while staying appropriate for a school community. As expected, the phishing tests quickly highlighted areas where additional reinforcement was needed.

"As I suspected, my staff needed further training or remediation, based on our current 12% test failure rate."

Tartan also provided flexibility in how Randy could run programs—whether short-term testing or ongoing campaigns—with monitoring controls that fit his workload.

What It's Been Like Working with Tartan

From implementation through ongoing check-ins, Evant ISD has found the Tartan experience smooth and supportive.

"Tartan has been a great resource for training my staff and for alerting them to the dangers of phishing. My representative is extremely nice and helpful when needed."

The team recently completed a six-month check-in to review campaign performance and program progress.

Results: Lower Repeat Clickers and Stronger Staff Awareness

Since starting with Tartan, Evant ISD has already seen meaningful improvements—especially in repeat clicking behavior.

• 0% Repeat Clickers: Demonstrating lasting behavior change across the district.
• Clear Visibility: Into risk levels across the district for better security planning.
• Upcoming Remediation: Training opportunities to further reduce clicks and risk exposure.

"I attribute a low rate of repeat offenders (0%) to the Tartan training."

Randy also emphasized the importance of reducing risk before it becomes a larger security event.

"The upcoming training courses will be good for remediating users who click suspicious links, putting our hardware and network at risk."

Why Tartan Works for Evant ISD

For Evant ISD, Tartan stands out because it balances realism, flexibility, and affordability—without creating a "fear-based" experience for staff.

• Short-term or ongoing campaigns, depending on district needs
• Realistic, tempting emails that train staff without being threatening
• Flexible monitoring, so IT can stay involved as needed without constant manual work

One simulation stood out as especially effective:

"One of the best test emails used another staff member's name and implied a Google Drive file share. A deeper look should have alerted the recipient that it wasn't from that user, and it wasn't a Google Drive link. Very tricky!"

Advice for Other Districts

Randy's guidance is direct: prevent what you can, train continuously, and don't overcorrect by locking everything down.

"Do all that you can to prevent and mitigate your risks. I don't promote the 'Fort Knox' approach of locking everything down—especially since we are a school district."

"Training is the best second line of defense against fraud, hacking, and other cybersecurity threats—immediately after a sound firewall."