Exclusive Virginias Fairfax Schools Expose Thousands of Sensitive Student Records The 74
p The 74
ppAmericas Education News SourceppCopyright 2023 The 74 Media IncppUpdatedppVirginias Fairfax County Public Schools has launched an investigation into the districts release of tens of thousands of confidential documents containing sensitive student information to a parent advocate last month and has issued an apology to those affectedppWe are deeply sorry that this happened the district said in a statement Wednesday We are working to determine who has been impacted so that appropriate notifications can be made Given the volume of information that may have been accessed this could take some timeppUpon its completion the results of an external legal investigation will be shared with Superintendent Michelle Reid the district saidppVirginias Fairfax County Public Schools disclosed tens of thousands of sensitive confidential student records apparently by accident to a parent advocate who has been an outspoken critic of its data privacy record ppThe documents identify current and former special education students by name and include letter grades disability status and mental health data In one particularly sensitive disclosure a counselor identified over 60 students whove struggled with issues like depression including those who have engaged in selfharm or been hospitalized pp A letter from the district to the state provides copious details about the condition and care of a medically fragile fourth grader And a document containing attorney work product marked privileged and confidential references a pair of Title IX cases It identifies two students as Jane Doe a common practice with alleged victims of sexual assault or harassment but then names the students in parenthesesppThe disclosure of private student data is likely the largest since 2020 when the hacker group MAZE obtained records including Social Security numbers and birthdates on over 170000 students and employees in the nations 13thlargest district But this time it looks like human error rather than ransomware was to blame ppWhy worry about people from the outside asked Callie Oettinger who received the recent document collection Theyve got the door wide open from the inside ppOettinger a parent and special education advocate with a long and contentious relationship with Fairfax administrators went to a school on three consecutive days last month to examine her childrens files data such as test scores attendance records and audio recordings of meetings shes been requesting for years In addition to boxes of paper files the district provided her with thumb drives and computer discs that Oettinger estimates include personal data on roughly 35000 studentsppParents who have challenged the district over special education services said the leak opens their children to further harm Among the records released to Oettinger was a 2019 email exchange in which officials questioned the cost of an independent educational evaluation for Julie Melears son who has dyslexia ppIs my kid for the rest of his life going to have to look over his shoulder to see what Fairfax is putting out there asked Melear who had three children in the district and now lives in DenverppThe latest disclosure is not an isolated incident Oettinger who also runs a special education watchdog website said the district has repeatedly released information on her now 19yearold son to other parents and unauthorized staff and on at least six occasions between 2016 and 2021 provided her with documents on children who are not her own One was a 2020 internal document on special education that included students names their attorneys and costs for servicesppBut those instances seem small compared to the volume of records she received in October which span the years 2019 to 2021 It also comes four years after the districts former superintendent apologized to Oettinger for a similar disclosure and two years after a county judge ruled against Fairfax in a case related to leaked student records ppContacted last week Fairfax officials who pledged to improve security after the 2020 breach appeared unaware they had given Oettinger access to students personal data The districts communications office forwarded an inquiry from The 74 to Molly Shannon who manages the districts public records office In an email Shannon asked a reporter to identify who accessed the records and where it occurred so we can investigate and remediate the issue at the school notify any affected families and work with the parent to ensure other students information is properly secured ppUnder state law the district is required to alert parents as soon as practicable if theres a violation under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or FERPAppThe records release is the latest dilemma for Virginias largest school system which has come under intense scrutiny for its handling of special education Following a federal civil rights probe last year the district agreed to make up for services it failed to provide to students with disabilities during the pandemic For years federal officials have urged the state to improve its monitoring of districts to ensure theyre complying with all special education laws As recently as February they told former state Superintendent Jillian Balow that protecting student confidentiality remained a sticking pointppData leaks linked to employee error are not unique to Fairfax In 2017 for example the Chicago Public Schools posted confidential student information including health conditions and birthdates to unsecured websites Timeconsuming records requests to school districts have also skyrocketed in recent years fueled in part by controversies over COVID protocols library books and curriculum Many districts have struggled to keep up but one expert said Fairfax shouldnt be one of themppI have a lot more sympathy for the many many small districts said Amelia Vance founder and president of the Public Interest Privacy Center But with an annual 35 billion budget Fairfax she said certainly seems to have the resources and theyve had these requests for years If they dont have a system to respond in a protective manner in an efficient manner thats on themppPhyllis Wolfram executive director of the Council of Administrators of Special Education a national organization said she doesnt think its common for districts to release students files to the wrong parent But if record requests are increasing she said security should be tighter ppGiven the shortage of school staff all around we must be extra vigilant and ensure highquality training for all staff she said ppppFERPA is a federal law that gives parents the right to examine their childrens educational records Oettinger said she asked to see original documents in person after the state overruled the districts initial refusal because past responses have been incomplete or contained electronic files that didnt open ppShe said she is unsure who in the district ultimately signed off on the recent release On Oct 16th she received an email from Shannon saying the records were ready From Oct 17 to 19 she sat in a small room next to the main office of her local high school and viewed the files A paralegal from the central office supervised as she copied records to thumb drives and scanned paper documents on her phone Oettinger said He offered assistance and even called in an IT expert when a media file didnt open She recorded everything and shared audio files of her visit with The 74 Ironically she said some of her own childrens records are still missingppAt one point she spotted an unredacted document with a teachers notes and suspected there were more But she said she didnt realize the full scope of the disclosure until she began reviewing the files at home ppShe filed a complaint with the US Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights on Oct 20 and contacted a handful of parents she knows with children named in the documentsppOettinger said she didnt report the leak to district officials because she doesnt trust them a skepticism that has only intensified over time When her son had reading difficulties in elementary school educators responded three times that an evaluation is not warranted according to district records and she said told her that boys learn to read slower than girls ppYou get one chance with your kid and theres no handbook she said In special education especially nobody knows what to do All you know is that youre fightingppIt took an independent evaluation for her son to be diagnosed with dyslexia and by seventh grade he had an Individualized Education Program a plan that outlines the services a district is obligated to provide students with disabilities Like thousands of Fairfax parents she also complained that the district failed to follow that plan during the pandemic He graduated in 2022 but her daughter remains a Fairfax studentppAs she navigated the system for her son she became a sounding board for other families She launched her website Special Education Action in 2020 Shes filed at least 100 complaints with the state education department over special education services in the district and another dozen with the federal civil rights office of which at least two have resulted in investigations Her persistence sending detailed sometimes biting emails and pressing for answers to all her questions has earned her a reputation for berating staff according to one 2019 email from Dawn Schaefer director of the district office that handles special education complaintsppIts obvious you dont know what youre talking about so let me break it down for you Oettinger wrote in a 2020 email to a staff person regarding a diagnosis for her sonppIn addition to requests for documents on her own children she submits Freedom of Information Act requests with the district each year for more general data that she uses in her advocacy role In one internal 2020 email she obtained John Cafferky an attorney who handles special education cases for the district said she files them because shes waiting for someone to slip up ppDistrict officials have promised her they would do a better job of safeguarding student privacy In a 2019 email exchange with former Superintendent Scott Brabrand Oettinger reported multiple cases of school staff forwarding information about her son to the wrong people ppI am sorry to report that the school did make a mistake and unintentionally provided information about your son to another parent he responded We take student privacy very seriously Following our process and protocols is paramount to ensuring we protect student informationppFollowing the 2020 ransomware incident the district notified affected families and released a statement saying it was committed to protecting the information of our students our staff and their families The state also stepped in to help the district clean up its internal practices and ensure it should not happen again state Superintendent Lisa Coons told The 74ppBut it did ppIn 2021 another Fairfax parent Debra Tisler filed a public records request seeking invoices for legal services in an attempt to learn how much Fairfax was spending on attorneys fees related to students with disabilities The district released records that included personal information on about a dozen students ppTisler shared the files with Oettinger who posted the records with names blacked out on her website The district sued them to get the records back but lost the case ppJudge Richard Gardiner who heard the lawsuit in a Fairfax County district court said the records were obtained quite lawfully ppThe district for whatever reason maybe it was ineptness I dont know I have no evidence on that made the decision to turn over the information and theyre stuck with that he said according to a transcript of the hearing ppFollowing the lawsuit an internal audit from December 2022 showed the districts inhouse attorneys didnt finish redacting students personal information before its records office released the documents Fairfax instituted new procedures to ensure records go through multiple reviews including checks by a paralegal and a staff attorney The district also hired additional staff to keep up with demandppBut it appears the system broke down Some parents whose records ended up in the recently released files said they werent surprised because they too have previously received documents pertaining to other studentsppSome of the information I found out about other peoples children I dont want to know said Melear the parent who relocated to Denver ppIn the files released to Oettinger Torey Vaneks daughter was included on a spreadsheet of students who receive special education services or accommodations for a disability A ninth grader at Woodson High School her daughter has dyslexia pp There is a joint frustration among many parents in Fairfax Vanek said Part of me is not surprised but part of me is like this is just basic data protection ppppGet stories like these delivered straight to your inbox Sign up for The 74 NewsletterppLinda Jacobson is a senior writer at The 74ppWe want our stories to be shared as widely as possible for freeppPlease view The 74s republishing termsppBy Linda JacobsonppThis story first appeared at The 74 a nonprofit news site covering education Sign up for free newsletters from The 74 to get more like this in your inboxppUpdatedppVirginias Fairfax County Public Schools has launched an investigation into the districts release of tens of thousands of confidential documents containing sensitive student information to a parent advocate last month and has issued an apology to those affectedppWe are deeply sorry that this happened the district said in a statement Wednesday We are working to determine who has been impacted so that appropriate notifications can be made Given the volume of information that may have been accessed this could take some timeppUpon its completion the results of an external legal investigation will be shared with Superintendent Michelle Reid the district saidppVirginias Fairfax County Public Schools disclosed tens of thousands of sensitive confidential student records apparently by accident to a parent advocate who has been an outspoken critic of its data privacy record ppThe documents identify current and former special education students by name and include letter grades disability status and mental health data In one particularly sensitive disclosure a counselor identified over 60 students whove struggled with issues like depression including those who have engaged in selfharm or been hospitalized pp A letter from the district to the state provides copious details about the condition and care of a medically fragile fourth grader And a document containing attorney work product marked privileged and confidential references a pair of Title IX cases It identifies two students as Jane Doe a common practice with alleged victims of sexual assault or harassment but then names the students in parenthesesppThe disclosure of private student data is likely the largest since 2020 when the hacker group MAZE obtained records including Social Security numbers and birthdates on over 170000 students and employees in the nations 13thlargest district But this time it looks like human error rather than ransomware was to blame ppWhy worry about people from the outside asked Callie Oettinger who received the recent document collection Theyve got the door wide open from the inside ppOettinger a parent and special education advocate with a long and contentious relationship with Fairfax administrators went to a school on three consecutive days last month to examine her childrens files data such as test scores attendance records and audio recordings of meetings shes been requesting for years In addition to boxes of paper files the district provided her with thumb drives and computer discs that Oettinger estimates include personal data on roughly 35000 studentsppParents who have challenged the district over special education services said the leak opens their children to further harm Among the records released to Oettinger was a 2019 email exchange in which officials questioned the cost of an independent educational evaluation for Julie Melears son who has dyslexia ppIs my kid for the rest of his life going to have to look over his shoulder to see what Fairfax is putting out there asked Melear who had three children in the district and now lives in DenverppThe latest disclosure is not an isolated incident Oettinger who also runs a special education watchdog website said the district has repeatedly released information on her now 19yearold son to other parents and unauthorized staff and on at least six occasions between 2016 and 2021 provided her with documents on children who are not her own One was a 2020 internal document on special education that included students names their attorneys and costs for servicesppBut those instances seem small compared to the volume of records she received in October which span the years 2019 to 2021 It also comes four years after the districts former superintendent apologized to Oettinger for a similar disclosure and two years after a county judge ruled against Fairfax in a case related to leaked student records ppContacted last week Fairfax officials who pledged to improve security after the 2020 breach appeared unaware they had given Oettinger access to students personal data The districts communications office forwarded an inquiry from The 74 to Molly Shannon who manages the districts public records office In an email Shannon asked a reporter to identify who accessed the records and where it occurred so we can investigate and remediate the issue at the school notify any affected families and work with the parent to ensure other students information is properly secured ppUnder state law the district is required to alert parents as soon as practicable if theres a violation under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or FERPAppThe records release is the latest dilemma for Virginias largest school system which has come under intense scrutiny for its handling of special education Following a federal civil rights probe last year the district agreed to make up for services it failed to provide to students with disabilities during the pandemic For years federal officials have urged the state to improve its monitoring of districts to ensure theyre complying with all special education laws As recently as February they told former state Superintendent Jillian Balow that protecting student confidentiality remained a sticking pointppData leaks linked to employee error are not unique to Fairfax In 2017 for example the Chicago Public Schools posted confidential student information including health conditions and birthdates to unsecured websites Timeconsuming records requests to school districts have also skyrocketed in recent years fueled in part by controversies over COVID protocols library books and curriculum Many districts have struggled to keep up but one expert said Fairfax shouldnt be one of themppI have a lot more sympathy for the many many small districts said Amelia Vance founder and president of the Public Interest Privacy Center But with an annual 35 billion budget Fairfax she said certainly seems to have the resources and theyve had these requests for years If they dont have a system to respond in a protective manner in an efficient manner thats on themppPhyllis Wolfram executive director of the Council of Administrators of Special Education a national organization said she doesnt think its common for districts to release students files to the wrong parent But if record requests are increasing she said security should be tighter ppGiven the shortage of school staff all around we must be extra vigilant and ensure highquality training for all staff she said ppppFERPA is a federal law that gives parents the right to examine their childrens educational records Oettinger said she asked to see original documents in person after the state overruled the districts initial refusal because past responses have been incomplete or contained electronic files that didnt open ppShe said she is unsure who in the district ultimately signed off on the recent release On Oct 16th she received an email from Shannon saying the records were ready From Oct 17 to 19 she sat in a small room next to the main office of her local high school and viewed the files A paralegal from the central office supervised as she copied records to thumb drives and scanned paper documents on her phone Oettinger said He offered assistance and even called in an IT expert when a media file didnt open She recorded everything and shared audio files of her visit with The 74 Ironically she said some of her own childrens records are still missingppAt one point she spotted an unredacted document with a teachers notes and suspected there were more But she said she didnt realize the full scope of the disclosure until she began reviewing the files at home ppShe filed a complaint with the US Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights on Oct 20 and contacted a handful of parents she knows with children named in the documentsppOettinger said she didnt report the leak to district officials because she doesnt trust them a skepticism that has only intensified over time When her son had reading difficulties in elementary school educators responded three times that an evaluation is not warranted according to district records and she said told her that boys learn to read slower than girls ppYou get one chance with your kid and theres no handbook she said In special education especially nobody knows what to do All you know is that youre fightingppIt took an independent evaluation for her son to be diagnosed with dyslexia and by seventh grade he had an Individualized Education Program a plan that outlines the services a district is obligated to provide students with disabilities Like thousands of Fairfax parents she also complained that the district failed to follow that plan during the pandemic He graduated in 2022 but her daughter remains a Fairfax studentppAs she navigated the system for her son she became a sounding board for other families She launched her website Special Education Action in 2020 Shes filed at least 100 complaints with the state education department over special education services in the district and another dozen with the federal civil rights office of which at least two have resulted in investigations Her persistence sending detailed sometimes biting emails and pressing for answers to all her questions has earned her a reputation for berating staff according to one 2019 email from Dawn Schaefer director of the district office that handles special education complaintsppIts obvious you dont know what youre talking about so let me break it down for you Oettinger wrote in a 2020 email to a staff person regarding a diagnosis for her sonppIn addition to requests for documents on her own children she submits Freedom of Information Act requests with the district each year for more general data that she uses in her advocacy role In one internal 2020 email she obtained John Cafferky an attorney who handles special education cases for the district said she files them because shes waiting for someone to slip up ppDistrict officials have promised her they would do a better job of safeguarding student privacy In a 2019 email exchange with former Superintendent Scott Brabrand Oettinger reported multiple cases of school staff forwarding information about her son to the wrong people ppI am sorry to report that the school did make a mistake and unintentionally provided information about your son to another parent he responded We take student privacy very seriously Following our process and protocols is paramount to ensuring we protect student informationppFollowing the 2020 ransomware incident the district notified affected families and released a statement saying it was committed to protecting the information of our students our staff and their families The state also stepped in to help the district clean up its internal practices and ensure it should not happen again state Superintendent Lisa Coons told The 74ppBut it did ppIn 2021 another Fairfax parent Debra Tisler filed a public records request seeking invoices for legal services in an attempt to learn how much Fairfax was spending on attorneys fees related to students with disabilities The district released records that included personal information on about a dozen students ppTisler shared the files with Oettinger who posted the records with names blacked out on her website The district sued them to get the records back but lost the case ppJudge Richard Gardiner who heard the lawsuit in a Fairfax County district court said the records were obtained quite lawfully ppThe district for whatever reason maybe it was ineptness I dont know I have no evidence on that made the decision to turn over the information and theyre stuck with that he said according to a transcript of the hearing ppFollowing the lawsuit an internal audit from December 2022 showed the districts inhouse attorneys didnt finish redacting students personal information before its records office released the documents Fairfax instituted new procedures to ensure records go through multiple reviews including checks by a paralegal and a staff attorney The district also hired additional staff to keep up with demandppBut it appears the system broke down Some parents whose records ended up in the recently released files said they werent surprised because they too have previously received documents pertaining to other studentsppSome of the information I found out about other peoples children I dont want to know said Melear the parent who relocated to Denver ppIn the files released to Oettinger Torey Vaneks daughter was included on a spreadsheet of students who receive special education services or accommodations for a disability A ninth grader at Woodson High School her daughter has dyslexia pp There is a joint frustration among many parents in Fairfax Vanek said Part of me is not surprised but part of me is like this is just basic data protection ppppCopyright 2023 The 74 Media Incp
ppAmericas Education News SourceppCopyright 2023 The 74 Media IncppUpdatedppVirginias Fairfax County Public Schools has launched an investigation into the districts release of tens of thousands of confidential documents containing sensitive student information to a parent advocate last month and has issued an apology to those affectedppWe are deeply sorry that this happened the district said in a statement Wednesday We are working to determine who has been impacted so that appropriate notifications can be made Given the volume of information that may have been accessed this could take some timeppUpon its completion the results of an external legal investigation will be shared with Superintendent Michelle Reid the district saidppVirginias Fairfax County Public Schools disclosed tens of thousands of sensitive confidential student records apparently by accident to a parent advocate who has been an outspoken critic of its data privacy record ppThe documents identify current and former special education students by name and include letter grades disability status and mental health data In one particularly sensitive disclosure a counselor identified over 60 students whove struggled with issues like depression including those who have engaged in selfharm or been hospitalized pp A letter from the district to the state provides copious details about the condition and care of a medically fragile fourth grader And a document containing attorney work product marked privileged and confidential references a pair of Title IX cases It identifies two students as Jane Doe a common practice with alleged victims of sexual assault or harassment but then names the students in parenthesesppThe disclosure of private student data is likely the largest since 2020 when the hacker group MAZE obtained records including Social Security numbers and birthdates on over 170000 students and employees in the nations 13thlargest district But this time it looks like human error rather than ransomware was to blame ppWhy worry about people from the outside asked Callie Oettinger who received the recent document collection Theyve got the door wide open from the inside ppOettinger a parent and special education advocate with a long and contentious relationship with Fairfax administrators went to a school on three consecutive days last month to examine her childrens files data such as test scores attendance records and audio recordings of meetings shes been requesting for years In addition to boxes of paper files the district provided her with thumb drives and computer discs that Oettinger estimates include personal data on roughly 35000 studentsppParents who have challenged the district over special education services said the leak opens their children to further harm Among the records released to Oettinger was a 2019 email exchange in which officials questioned the cost of an independent educational evaluation for Julie Melears son who has dyslexia ppIs my kid for the rest of his life going to have to look over his shoulder to see what Fairfax is putting out there asked Melear who had three children in the district and now lives in DenverppThe latest disclosure is not an isolated incident Oettinger who also runs a special education watchdog website said the district has repeatedly released information on her now 19yearold son to other parents and unauthorized staff and on at least six occasions between 2016 and 2021 provided her with documents on children who are not her own One was a 2020 internal document on special education that included students names their attorneys and costs for servicesppBut those instances seem small compared to the volume of records she received in October which span the years 2019 to 2021 It also comes four years after the districts former superintendent apologized to Oettinger for a similar disclosure and two years after a county judge ruled against Fairfax in a case related to leaked student records ppContacted last week Fairfax officials who pledged to improve security after the 2020 breach appeared unaware they had given Oettinger access to students personal data The districts communications office forwarded an inquiry from The 74 to Molly Shannon who manages the districts public records office In an email Shannon asked a reporter to identify who accessed the records and where it occurred so we can investigate and remediate the issue at the school notify any affected families and work with the parent to ensure other students information is properly secured ppUnder state law the district is required to alert parents as soon as practicable if theres a violation under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or FERPAppThe records release is the latest dilemma for Virginias largest school system which has come under intense scrutiny for its handling of special education Following a federal civil rights probe last year the district agreed to make up for services it failed to provide to students with disabilities during the pandemic For years federal officials have urged the state to improve its monitoring of districts to ensure theyre complying with all special education laws As recently as February they told former state Superintendent Jillian Balow that protecting student confidentiality remained a sticking pointppData leaks linked to employee error are not unique to Fairfax In 2017 for example the Chicago Public Schools posted confidential student information including health conditions and birthdates to unsecured websites Timeconsuming records requests to school districts have also skyrocketed in recent years fueled in part by controversies over COVID protocols library books and curriculum Many districts have struggled to keep up but one expert said Fairfax shouldnt be one of themppI have a lot more sympathy for the many many small districts said Amelia Vance founder and president of the Public Interest Privacy Center But with an annual 35 billion budget Fairfax she said certainly seems to have the resources and theyve had these requests for years If they dont have a system to respond in a protective manner in an efficient manner thats on themppPhyllis Wolfram executive director of the Council of Administrators of Special Education a national organization said she doesnt think its common for districts to release students files to the wrong parent But if record requests are increasing she said security should be tighter ppGiven the shortage of school staff all around we must be extra vigilant and ensure highquality training for all staff she said ppppFERPA is a federal law that gives parents the right to examine their childrens educational records Oettinger said she asked to see original documents in person after the state overruled the districts initial refusal because past responses have been incomplete or contained electronic files that didnt open ppShe said she is unsure who in the district ultimately signed off on the recent release On Oct 16th she received an email from Shannon saying the records were ready From Oct 17 to 19 she sat in a small room next to the main office of her local high school and viewed the files A paralegal from the central office supervised as she copied records to thumb drives and scanned paper documents on her phone Oettinger said He offered assistance and even called in an IT expert when a media file didnt open She recorded everything and shared audio files of her visit with The 74 Ironically she said some of her own childrens records are still missingppAt one point she spotted an unredacted document with a teachers notes and suspected there were more But she said she didnt realize the full scope of the disclosure until she began reviewing the files at home ppShe filed a complaint with the US Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights on Oct 20 and contacted a handful of parents she knows with children named in the documentsppOettinger said she didnt report the leak to district officials because she doesnt trust them a skepticism that has only intensified over time When her son had reading difficulties in elementary school educators responded three times that an evaluation is not warranted according to district records and she said told her that boys learn to read slower than girls ppYou get one chance with your kid and theres no handbook she said In special education especially nobody knows what to do All you know is that youre fightingppIt took an independent evaluation for her son to be diagnosed with dyslexia and by seventh grade he had an Individualized Education Program a plan that outlines the services a district is obligated to provide students with disabilities Like thousands of Fairfax parents she also complained that the district failed to follow that plan during the pandemic He graduated in 2022 but her daughter remains a Fairfax studentppAs she navigated the system for her son she became a sounding board for other families She launched her website Special Education Action in 2020 Shes filed at least 100 complaints with the state education department over special education services in the district and another dozen with the federal civil rights office of which at least two have resulted in investigations Her persistence sending detailed sometimes biting emails and pressing for answers to all her questions has earned her a reputation for berating staff according to one 2019 email from Dawn Schaefer director of the district office that handles special education complaintsppIts obvious you dont know what youre talking about so let me break it down for you Oettinger wrote in a 2020 email to a staff person regarding a diagnosis for her sonppIn addition to requests for documents on her own children she submits Freedom of Information Act requests with the district each year for more general data that she uses in her advocacy role In one internal 2020 email she obtained John Cafferky an attorney who handles special education cases for the district said she files them because shes waiting for someone to slip up ppDistrict officials have promised her they would do a better job of safeguarding student privacy In a 2019 email exchange with former Superintendent Scott Brabrand Oettinger reported multiple cases of school staff forwarding information about her son to the wrong people ppI am sorry to report that the school did make a mistake and unintentionally provided information about your son to another parent he responded We take student privacy very seriously Following our process and protocols is paramount to ensuring we protect student informationppFollowing the 2020 ransomware incident the district notified affected families and released a statement saying it was committed to protecting the information of our students our staff and their families The state also stepped in to help the district clean up its internal practices and ensure it should not happen again state Superintendent Lisa Coons told The 74ppBut it did ppIn 2021 another Fairfax parent Debra Tisler filed a public records request seeking invoices for legal services in an attempt to learn how much Fairfax was spending on attorneys fees related to students with disabilities The district released records that included personal information on about a dozen students ppTisler shared the files with Oettinger who posted the records with names blacked out on her website The district sued them to get the records back but lost the case ppJudge Richard Gardiner who heard the lawsuit in a Fairfax County district court said the records were obtained quite lawfully ppThe district for whatever reason maybe it was ineptness I dont know I have no evidence on that made the decision to turn over the information and theyre stuck with that he said according to a transcript of the hearing ppFollowing the lawsuit an internal audit from December 2022 showed the districts inhouse attorneys didnt finish redacting students personal information before its records office released the documents Fairfax instituted new procedures to ensure records go through multiple reviews including checks by a paralegal and a staff attorney The district also hired additional staff to keep up with demandppBut it appears the system broke down Some parents whose records ended up in the recently released files said they werent surprised because they too have previously received documents pertaining to other studentsppSome of the information I found out about other peoples children I dont want to know said Melear the parent who relocated to Denver ppIn the files released to Oettinger Torey Vaneks daughter was included on a spreadsheet of students who receive special education services or accommodations for a disability A ninth grader at Woodson High School her daughter has dyslexia pp There is a joint frustration among many parents in Fairfax Vanek said Part of me is not surprised but part of me is like this is just basic data protection ppppGet stories like these delivered straight to your inbox Sign up for The 74 NewsletterppLinda Jacobson is a senior writer at The 74ppWe want our stories to be shared as widely as possible for freeppPlease view The 74s republishing termsppBy Linda JacobsonppThis story first appeared at The 74 a nonprofit news site covering education Sign up for free newsletters from The 74 to get more like this in your inboxppUpdatedppVirginias Fairfax County Public Schools has launched an investigation into the districts release of tens of thousands of confidential documents containing sensitive student information to a parent advocate last month and has issued an apology to those affectedppWe are deeply sorry that this happened the district said in a statement Wednesday We are working to determine who has been impacted so that appropriate notifications can be made Given the volume of information that may have been accessed this could take some timeppUpon its completion the results of an external legal investigation will be shared with Superintendent Michelle Reid the district saidppVirginias Fairfax County Public Schools disclosed tens of thousands of sensitive confidential student records apparently by accident to a parent advocate who has been an outspoken critic of its data privacy record ppThe documents identify current and former special education students by name and include letter grades disability status and mental health data In one particularly sensitive disclosure a counselor identified over 60 students whove struggled with issues like depression including those who have engaged in selfharm or been hospitalized pp A letter from the district to the state provides copious details about the condition and care of a medically fragile fourth grader And a document containing attorney work product marked privileged and confidential references a pair of Title IX cases It identifies two students as Jane Doe a common practice with alleged victims of sexual assault or harassment but then names the students in parenthesesppThe disclosure of private student data is likely the largest since 2020 when the hacker group MAZE obtained records including Social Security numbers and birthdates on over 170000 students and employees in the nations 13thlargest district But this time it looks like human error rather than ransomware was to blame ppWhy worry about people from the outside asked Callie Oettinger who received the recent document collection Theyve got the door wide open from the inside ppOettinger a parent and special education advocate with a long and contentious relationship with Fairfax administrators went to a school on three consecutive days last month to examine her childrens files data such as test scores attendance records and audio recordings of meetings shes been requesting for years In addition to boxes of paper files the district provided her with thumb drives and computer discs that Oettinger estimates include personal data on roughly 35000 studentsppParents who have challenged the district over special education services said the leak opens their children to further harm Among the records released to Oettinger was a 2019 email exchange in which officials questioned the cost of an independent educational evaluation for Julie Melears son who has dyslexia ppIs my kid for the rest of his life going to have to look over his shoulder to see what Fairfax is putting out there asked Melear who had three children in the district and now lives in DenverppThe latest disclosure is not an isolated incident Oettinger who also runs a special education watchdog website said the district has repeatedly released information on her now 19yearold son to other parents and unauthorized staff and on at least six occasions between 2016 and 2021 provided her with documents on children who are not her own One was a 2020 internal document on special education that included students names their attorneys and costs for servicesppBut those instances seem small compared to the volume of records she received in October which span the years 2019 to 2021 It also comes four years after the districts former superintendent apologized to Oettinger for a similar disclosure and two years after a county judge ruled against Fairfax in a case related to leaked student records ppContacted last week Fairfax officials who pledged to improve security after the 2020 breach appeared unaware they had given Oettinger access to students personal data The districts communications office forwarded an inquiry from The 74 to Molly Shannon who manages the districts public records office In an email Shannon asked a reporter to identify who accessed the records and where it occurred so we can investigate and remediate the issue at the school notify any affected families and work with the parent to ensure other students information is properly secured ppUnder state law the district is required to alert parents as soon as practicable if theres a violation under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act or FERPAppThe records release is the latest dilemma for Virginias largest school system which has come under intense scrutiny for its handling of special education Following a federal civil rights probe last year the district agreed to make up for services it failed to provide to students with disabilities during the pandemic For years federal officials have urged the state to improve its monitoring of districts to ensure theyre complying with all special education laws As recently as February they told former state Superintendent Jillian Balow that protecting student confidentiality remained a sticking pointppData leaks linked to employee error are not unique to Fairfax In 2017 for example the Chicago Public Schools posted confidential student information including health conditions and birthdates to unsecured websites Timeconsuming records requests to school districts have also skyrocketed in recent years fueled in part by controversies over COVID protocols library books and curriculum Many districts have struggled to keep up but one expert said Fairfax shouldnt be one of themppI have a lot more sympathy for the many many small districts said Amelia Vance founder and president of the Public Interest Privacy Center But with an annual 35 billion budget Fairfax she said certainly seems to have the resources and theyve had these requests for years If they dont have a system to respond in a protective manner in an efficient manner thats on themppPhyllis Wolfram executive director of the Council of Administrators of Special Education a national organization said she doesnt think its common for districts to release students files to the wrong parent But if record requests are increasing she said security should be tighter ppGiven the shortage of school staff all around we must be extra vigilant and ensure highquality training for all staff she said ppppFERPA is a federal law that gives parents the right to examine their childrens educational records Oettinger said she asked to see original documents in person after the state overruled the districts initial refusal because past responses have been incomplete or contained electronic files that didnt open ppShe said she is unsure who in the district ultimately signed off on the recent release On Oct 16th she received an email from Shannon saying the records were ready From Oct 17 to 19 she sat in a small room next to the main office of her local high school and viewed the files A paralegal from the central office supervised as she copied records to thumb drives and scanned paper documents on her phone Oettinger said He offered assistance and even called in an IT expert when a media file didnt open She recorded everything and shared audio files of her visit with The 74 Ironically she said some of her own childrens records are still missingppAt one point she spotted an unredacted document with a teachers notes and suspected there were more But she said she didnt realize the full scope of the disclosure until she began reviewing the files at home ppShe filed a complaint with the US Department of Educations Office for Civil Rights on Oct 20 and contacted a handful of parents she knows with children named in the documentsppOettinger said she didnt report the leak to district officials because she doesnt trust them a skepticism that has only intensified over time When her son had reading difficulties in elementary school educators responded three times that an evaluation is not warranted according to district records and she said told her that boys learn to read slower than girls ppYou get one chance with your kid and theres no handbook she said In special education especially nobody knows what to do All you know is that youre fightingppIt took an independent evaluation for her son to be diagnosed with dyslexia and by seventh grade he had an Individualized Education Program a plan that outlines the services a district is obligated to provide students with disabilities Like thousands of Fairfax parents she also complained that the district failed to follow that plan during the pandemic He graduated in 2022 but her daughter remains a Fairfax studentppAs she navigated the system for her son she became a sounding board for other families She launched her website Special Education Action in 2020 Shes filed at least 100 complaints with the state education department over special education services in the district and another dozen with the federal civil rights office of which at least two have resulted in investigations Her persistence sending detailed sometimes biting emails and pressing for answers to all her questions has earned her a reputation for berating staff according to one 2019 email from Dawn Schaefer director of the district office that handles special education complaintsppIts obvious you dont know what youre talking about so let me break it down for you Oettinger wrote in a 2020 email to a staff person regarding a diagnosis for her sonppIn addition to requests for documents on her own children she submits Freedom of Information Act requests with the district each year for more general data that she uses in her advocacy role In one internal 2020 email she obtained John Cafferky an attorney who handles special education cases for the district said she files them because shes waiting for someone to slip up ppDistrict officials have promised her they would do a better job of safeguarding student privacy In a 2019 email exchange with former Superintendent Scott Brabrand Oettinger reported multiple cases of school staff forwarding information about her son to the wrong people ppI am sorry to report that the school did make a mistake and unintentionally provided information about your son to another parent he responded We take student privacy very seriously Following our process and protocols is paramount to ensuring we protect student informationppFollowing the 2020 ransomware incident the district notified affected families and released a statement saying it was committed to protecting the information of our students our staff and their families The state also stepped in to help the district clean up its internal practices and ensure it should not happen again state Superintendent Lisa Coons told The 74ppBut it did ppIn 2021 another Fairfax parent Debra Tisler filed a public records request seeking invoices for legal services in an attempt to learn how much Fairfax was spending on attorneys fees related to students with disabilities The district released records that included personal information on about a dozen students ppTisler shared the files with Oettinger who posted the records with names blacked out on her website The district sued them to get the records back but lost the case ppJudge Richard Gardiner who heard the lawsuit in a Fairfax County district court said the records were obtained quite lawfully ppThe district for whatever reason maybe it was ineptness I dont know I have no evidence on that made the decision to turn over the information and theyre stuck with that he said according to a transcript of the hearing ppFollowing the lawsuit an internal audit from December 2022 showed the districts inhouse attorneys didnt finish redacting students personal information before its records office released the documents Fairfax instituted new procedures to ensure records go through multiple reviews including checks by a paralegal and a staff attorney The district also hired additional staff to keep up with demandppBut it appears the system broke down Some parents whose records ended up in the recently released files said they werent surprised because they too have previously received documents pertaining to other studentsppSome of the information I found out about other peoples children I dont want to know said Melear the parent who relocated to Denver ppIn the files released to Oettinger Torey Vaneks daughter was included on a spreadsheet of students who receive special education services or accommodations for a disability A ninth grader at Woodson High School her daughter has dyslexia pp There is a joint frustration among many parents in Fairfax Vanek said Part of me is not surprised but part of me is like this is just basic data protection ppppCopyright 2023 The 74 Media Incp
