Georgia K-12 Email Security Intelligence:
DNS Authentication Profiling of 245 School District LEAs

Lokentra Research Team

Lokentra U.S. Email Security Index (ESI) — State Intelligence Series

April 22, 2026

research@monitorworkspace.com • monitorworkspace.com/scorecard

Abstract

We present DNS email security profiling for 245 K-12 LEAs in Georgia, of which 81 have active domains (33.1% coverage). Domains were scored on the Lokentra 100-point Email Security Index (ESI) rubric (SPF 30 pts + DKIM 30 pts + DMARC 40 pts). Georgia K-12 districts achieve an average ESI score of 48.2/100, with 24.7% earning Grade A or B (strong posture) and 27.2% receiving Grade F (minimal authentication). Only 60.5% have any DMARC record, and just 24.7% have DMARC at an enforcement level (quarantine or reject) — leaving 39.5% of districts fully vulnerable to email domain spoofing. This report provides entity-level data for all 81 scored domains including provider classification, authentication status, and ESI score, sourced from NCES CCD 2024-2025 and live DNS resolution conducted April 22, 2026.

Keywords: Georgia, K-12 email security, DMARC, SPF, school district cybersecurity, DNS authentication, Google Workspace, education technology

1. Dataset Overview

Table 1. Georgia K-12 Dataset Summary
Metric	Value
Total K-12 LEAs in state	245
Regular school districts	180
Charter LEAs	41
Other LEA types (state-operated, regional, etc.)	24
LEAs with active internet domain	81 (33.1%)
Domains DNS-profiled	81
Data freshness (NCES CCD)	2024-2025 school year
DNS scan date	April 22, 2026

2. The Human Impact: Populations at Risk

To estimate human exposure, NCES national averages are applied to CCD 2024-2025 operational school counts: 381 students per school, 51 staff per school, and 2 parents or guardians per student. Georgia K-12 districts collectively operate approximately 2,318 schools.

Table 2. Estimated Population Exposure from K-12 Email Security Gaps — Georgia
Population	Total in Dataset	At Risk (No DMARC, 39.5%)	Critically Exposed (Grade F, 27.2%)
Students	883,158	348,847	240,218
Parents and guardians	1,766,316	697,694	480,437
Staff and educators	118,218	46,696	32,155
Total people	2,767,692	1,093,238	752,812

Estimates based on NCES national averages. Individual district enrollment data can be linked via NCES LEAID for precise counts.

3. Authentication Findings

3.1 Protocol Adoption

Table 3. Email Authentication Protocol Adoption — Georgia K-12
Protocol	Georgia	National K-12 (ESI)	vs. National
SPF (any configuration)	75.3%	79.7%	-4.4pp
DKIM (key published)	53.1%	59.6%	-6.5pp
DMARC (any policy)	60.5%	55.5%	+5.0pp
DMARC at enforcement (quarantine/reject)	24.7%	~21.0%	+3.7pp
DMARC at reject (full enforcement)	11.1%	~12.2%	-1.1pp
No MX records (not receiving email)	7.4%	~10.0%	-2.6pp

3.2 ESI Grade Distribution

Table 4. ESI Score Grade Distribution — Georgia K-12
Grade	Score	Districts	Share	Interpretation
A	90–100	11	13.6%	Full enforcement
B	70–89	9	11.1%	Strong posture
C	50–69	25	30.9%	Partial protection
D	30–49	14	17.3%	Weak configuration
F	0–29	22	27.2%	Minimal/no authentication
Average score		48.2 / 100

3.3 Email Provider Distribution

Table 5. Email Provider Distribution — Georgia K-12 (top providers)
Provider	Districts	Share
Google Workspace	47	58.0%
Microsoft 365	16	19.8%
Barracuda	2	2.5%
Proofpoint	2	2.5%
Mimecast	1	1.2%

4. District-Level Data

4.1 Top Performing Districts (Best ESI Scores)

Table 6. Top 15 Georgia K-12 Districts by ESI Score
District	Domain	County	Provider	SPF	DKIM	DMARC Policy	Score	Grade
State Charter Schools II- SLAM Academy of Atlanta	`slamatlanta.com`	Fulton County	Microsoft 365	✓	✓	reject	100	A
Bartow County	`bartow.k12.ga.us`	Bartow County	Microsoft 365	✓	✓	reject	100	A
Putnam County	`putnam.k12.ga.us`	Putnam County	Microsoft 365	✓	✓	reject	100	A
Buford City	`bufordcityschools.org`	Gwinnett County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	reject	95	A
Decatur County	`dcboe.com`	Decatur County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	reject	95	A
Hall County	`hallco.org`	Hall County	—	✓	✓	reject	95	A
Madison County	`madison.k12.ga.us`	Madison County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	reject	95	A
Ware County	`ware.k12.ga.us`	Ware County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	reject	95	A
Calhoun City	`calhounschools.org`	Gordon County	Microsoft 365	✓	✓	quarantine	90	A
Gordon County	`gcbe.org`	Gordon County	Microsoft 365	✓	✓	quarantine	90	A
Marion County	`marion.k12.ga.us`	Marion County	Microsoft 365	✓	✓	quarantine	90	A
State Charter Schools II- Coweta Charter Academy	`cowetacharteracademy.org`	Coweta County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	quarantine	85	B
State Charter Schools- Georgia Cyber Academy	`georgiacyber.org`	Clayton County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	quarantine	85	B
Greene County	`greene.k12.ga.us`	Greene County	Barracuda	✓	✓	quarantine	85	B
Lee County	`lee.k12.ga.us`	Lee County	Google Workspace	✓	✓	quarantine	85	B

4.2 Districts Most in Need of Improvement (Lowest ESI Scores)

Table 7. Bottom 15 Georgia K-12 Districts by ESI Score
District	Domain	County	Provider	SPF	DKIM	DMARC Policy	Grade
Baldwin County	`baldwin-county-schools.com`	Baldwin County	—	✗	✗	—	F
Heart of Georgia RESA	`hgresa.org`	Dodge County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
State Charter Schools- Cherokee Charter Academy	`cherokecharter.org`	Cherokee County	—	✗	✗	—	F
State Charter Schools II- Fulton Leadership Academy	`fultonleadershipacademy.org`	Fulton County	—	✗	✗	—	F
State Charter Schools II- Yi Hwang Academy of Language Exce	`yhale.org`	Gwinnett County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
Butts County	`butts.k12.ga.us`	Butts County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
Bibb County	`bibb.k12.ga.us`	Bibb County	—	✗	✗	—	F
Crisp County	`crisp.k12.ga.us`	Crisp County	—	✗	✗	—	F
Meriwether County	`meriwether.k12.ga.us`	Meriwether County	—	✗	✗	—	F
Lincoln County	`lincolncountyschools.org`	Lincoln County	—	✗	✗	—	F
Randolph County	`randolphcountyschools.org`	Randolph County	—	✗	✗	—	F
Tattnall County	`tattnallcountyschools.org`	Tattnall County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
Thomasville City	`home.rose.net`	Thomas County	—	✗	✗	—	F
Twiggs County	`twiggs.k12.ga.us`	Twiggs County	Google Workspace	✗	✗	—	F
Social Circle City	`scboe.org`	Walton County	—	✗	✗	—	F

4.3 County-Level Summary (Top 10 Counties by District Count)

Table 8. Georgia County Distribution
County	Districts	Website Coverage
Fulton County	17	11.8%
Cobb County	7	14.3%
DeKalb County	6	16.7%
Gwinnett County	6	66.7%
Coweta County	4	75.0%
Mitchell County	4	50.0%
Clayton County	4	50.0%
Bulloch County	3	33.3%
Floyd County	3	100.0%
White County	3	66.7%

5. Policy Implications

These findings identify specific, actionable gaps in Georgia's K-12 email security posture. The 39.5% DMARC gap represents districts that can be impersonated by any sender, enabling phishing campaigns targeting parents, students, and educators with no authentication failure. Key observations:

Immediate risk: 22 districts (27.2%) have Grade F scores, indicating minimal or no email authentication. These represent the highest-priority remediation targets.
Mid-tier stagnation: 25 districts (30.9%) are in the C range — typically have SPF but no DMARC or weak DMARC (p=none). Upgrading to p=quarantine would move them to B without infrastructure changes.
Provider leverage: Google Workspace (used by 58.0% of scored districts) provides automated SPF/DKIM configuration. Districts on Google Workspace with Grade F scores have misconfigured or missing DMARC — a free and simple fix.

6. Data Availability

The full Georgia K-12 dataset — 245 entities with NCES CCD enrichment (phone, address, grade span, school count, LEAID) and DNS authentication profiles — is available as part of the Lokentra ESI State Pack.

Table 9. Licensing Tiers
Tier	Scope	Suggested Use
State Pack: Georgia	All 245 K-12 LEAs, full DNS profile + CCD enrichment	Regional studies, state policy, outreach
K-12 National	All 50 states, 20,021+ K-12 LEAs	National K-12 cybersecurity research
Full Registry	801,359+ entities across all sectors	Comprehensive multi-sector research
API + Updates	Quarterly re-scan, REST API	Longitudinal studies, live dashboards

Contact: research@monitorworkspace.com — Free demo at monitorworkspace.com/scorecard

Citation: Lokentra Research Team (2026). Georgia K-12 Email Security Intelligence: DNS Authentication Profiling of 245 School District LEAs. Lokentra U.S. Email Security Index (ESI) — State Intelligence Series. https://lokentra-site.web.app/research/states/ga-k12-paper.html

Data sources: NCES Common Core of Data (CCD) 2024-2025; DNS records resolved via Google Public DNS (8.8.8.8) and Cloudflare (1.1.1.1). All entity data derived from publicly accessible government registries.

National baseline figures from Lokentra U.S. Education Sector Email Security Intelligence Dataset (March 2026). See education-dataset-paper.html for full methodology.

Georgia K-12 Email Security Intelligence:DNS Authentication Profiling of 245 School District LEAs