South Washington County Schools emailed parents Wednesday with their children’s transportation information for the upcoming school year — and in one attachment mistakenly released data on over 9,600 students and their parents.
Three hours after the email was sent the district acknowledged the release in a statement, apologized and said it was working to address the situation. It was not immediately clear why the file containing the data was attached to the email and how many parents or others received it.
The document contains student names, home addresses and schools; parent names, phone numbers and email addresses; and student busing information, including pick-up and drop-off time and location and the bus route and description.
The release raises student and family safety concerns. There also are potential legal concerns; education data generally is private under state and federal laws, with some exceptions.
No special access was required to view the data.
Communications Director Barb Brown said late Wednesday the district was working through the issue.
“South Washington County Schools is aware of the release of information about students and families through a mass email to parents regarding transportation information for the coming school year,” according to a district statement. “We apologize for this mistake and are addressing the situation.”
Brown said when they are able to share more information, they will first do so with parents affected by the “inadvertent release of information.”
Surprised and angry parents took to social media following the data release.
“People with protective orders with kids in the district just got exposed,” one woman wrote in a Facebook group.
“Wow. Yes, I got it too. Unbelievable,” added another.
