Virginia’s Fairfax Schools Urged to Clean Up Privacy Safeguards After Data Probe

Superintendent Michelle Reid said the district would follow the advice of a firm it hired to examine a massive disclosure of student information.

Virginia’s Fairfax County Public Schools, one of the nation’s largest districts, should make several changes to safeguard student privacy, according to legal experts who investigated the recent accidental release of sensitive, confidential records on more than 35,000 students. 

Several of the documents were internal memos about special education services and litigation against the district that included the names of two former students who had brought lawsuits related to alleged sexual assaults. Another spreadsheet identified at least 60 students struggling with mental health issues including suicidal thoughts, self harm and eating disorders.

In the future, investigators said that attorneys should review and label files before a parent inspects them and urged staff throughout the district to be trained on the “importance of redacting and safeguarding confidential information.” In a letter to families Thursday, Superintendent Michelle Reid said the district would comply with all of the recommendations...

Virginia’s Fairfax Schools Urged to Clean Up Privacy Safeguards After Data Probe – The 74 (the74million.org)