Sensitive Personal Information About 2K DC Students Made Public

Names, housing status and special education eligibility information were released

A spreadsheet containing identifying and sensitive personal information about 2,000 D.C. Public School students was made public online for six months.

The information was inadvertently released in a spreadsheet student data — including names, dates of birth, housing status and whether they were eligible for special education.

The spreadsheet also included student ID numbers, school, grade level and attendance information.

"This happened as part of an inadvertent submission," DCPS Deputy Chancellor Amy Maisterra said. "We are making sure that this does not happen again."

The school system confirmed it mistakenly included student information in a spreadsheet that it gave to the council. It was posted about Feb. 5 and was removed about Aug. 9, when an employee noticed.

Parents of affected students were sent a letter more than three weeks later, on Aug. 31. Many parents received the letter after the holiday weekend.

A DCPS spokesperson said that administrators needed to confirm they had the correct addresses.

DCPS does not believe anyone else accessed the information.

News4 reached out to Council Members on the District’s Education Committee, but couldn’t reach them for comment.

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