Tewskbury school district releases private student data

TEWKSBURY, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Parents are outraged after private student data was inadvertently released by the Tewksbury public school district.

Sensitive information part of a school committee packet wsa left online for the public to see for much of last week. It lists information about out-of-district placements, and even ranks parents as cooperative or uncooperative.

The superintendent is apologizing, but some parents tell FOX25 it's too little too late.

Erin Knyff of Tewksbury says she feels named and shamed after her child's personal data was made public.
 
"Liam is 11 years old, he's Down Syndrome, he was diagnosed with autism when he was five," she said.

FOX25 obtained documents courtesy of the Tewksbury Town Crier that detail out-of-district placements for 83 students, including Liam.

"He's never been in the district because I never felt the district had proper programming for him," Knyff said.

The document never names the children, but gives other identifying information, including their current school.

"I get texts from four other people, Liam is number 39, Liam is number 39, are you kidding me?" Knyff said.

It also rates parents on a scale of cooperativeness, listing Erin Knyff with a ranking of 3, for uncooperative.

"I'm sad I'm considered not cooperative because I advocate for what's right for my children," she said.

The Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said, in a statement, "districts are not supposed to release data from which students could be identified, and students can sometimes be identified even if there names are not included."

"My child is the only one in the district that goes to that particular school so it's an absolutely violation of his privacy," Knyff said.

A letter from the superintendent sent to parents says, in part, "I'm writing to apologize for the inadvertent release of an internal document compiled...I cannot begin to tell you how embarrassed I am and, more importantly, how sorry I am to have caused many of you to lose trust and respect for the Tewksbury Public Schools and me personally."

But parents say the damage is already done.

"Somebody should've stopped that document before it ever got to where it was," Knyff said.

FOX25 reached out to the superintendent but he declined to discuss this matter, only sharing that letter to parents apologizing.

Cox Media Group