MDE: School district website contained students' personal info
The Mississippi Department of Education is asking the Tunica County School District to alert parents and other community members after students' personal information was posted on the website.
The information included social security numbers, medical and discipline data, Detention/Suspension Roster Summaries, Mississippi Student Information System numbers, disability status and more, according to a June 19 letter from MDE to the district's superintendent.
MDE said it became aware of the information on the site through complaints from parents.
Superintendent Steve Chandler said the information was thousands of pages of documents, some of which contained confidential information. As soon as MDE alerted the district, he said, the information was taken down.
The federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) protects the privacy of students' education records. The U.S. Department of Education monitors the law.
The information was posted in response to an audit done by MDE during the spring semester. The audit found the district didn't comply with all accreditation standards and accountability requirements, including misspent federal funds and issues with special education services among other findings.
Chandler said the documents containing sensitive information were posted online for about five to six days.
Parent and former employee Dionne Carr said she saw the confidential information on the website on June 18 after being told about it by another parent a few days earlier.
Carr said the information was posted under a section on the website called "Process Standards Compliance."
Carr said she saw students' HIPAA information, teachers and students' Social Security numbers, addresses and telephone numbers of students, information regarding students with disabilities and other personnel files.
The district said it has contacted several U.S. credit-reporting agencies about the incident and says it also plans to offer identity-monitoring services to parents and students who wish to use them.
The Mississippi Department of Education said in its letter to the superintendent it has notified the Attorney General's Office, the U.S. Department of Education and the Office of Civil Rights.
The U.S. Department of Education's Family Policy Compliance Office, which administers FERPA, said it reviews the evidence after receiving a complaint about an alleged violation. If it finds there is a violation after an investigation, corrective actions such as training of school officials are assigned so that the district is in compliance.
As a last resort, the FPCO may also take enforcement actions such as withdrawal of funds.
Questions submitted to the Attorney General's Office regarding whether it is conducting an investigation were not immediately returned on Tuesday.
Students and parents who suspect personal information is being improperly used are encouraged to contact Carol Brady at support@tunicak12.org or 662-541-0532.
Contact Kate Royals at (601) 360-4619 or kroyals@gannett.com. Follow @KRRoyals on Twitter.