The Pulaski County Special School District notified its faculty Wednesday that a list of all district teachers and their Social Security numbers was mistakenly posted on the district's website for 22 hours, beginning Tuesday and going into Wednesday.
Deborah Roush, the executive director of communications for the district, said Wednesday that the district had intended to post information -- as required by the state -- on whether district teachers this year and in the past two years met the requirements necessary to be labeled as "highly qualified teachers."
The list of teachers, attained by the district from the Arkansas Department of Education, included not only the teacher names, subject area and qualifications but also the Social Security numbers. The list was posted to the district's website in the format in which it was received, Roush said.
The district's webmaster determined that 14 people accessed the "State Required Information" section of the website that contained the Highly Qualified Teacher list, as well as several other electronic files.
"We do not know for certain how many individuals clicked on the specific page for highly qualified teachers," Roush said in the email notice that went to employees, "but it is obviously fewer.
"We know, for instance, that at least seven of those 14 people were PCSSD staff members who were clicking on the State Required Information section to ensure standard requirements were posted for their departments," she wrote. "Therefore, it is likely that seven or fewer people accessed the specific page with the Highly Qualified Teacher information," she said.
Roush said the report has since been removed, revised and re-posted without the Social Security numbers.
If fallen into the wrong hands, names tied to Social Security numbers can be used fraudulently, including for identity theft.
Roush said Wednesday that there are no plans for the district to pay for or otherwise provide credit report checks for the employees as a result of the breach.
"Though exposure to this information was minimal, we want to be transparent and advise you of this incident so you can be diligent about monitoring your accounts and personal information," Roush wrote to the teachers.
Metro on 11/12/2015