Whoa FCPS- data breach

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Got a letter from fcps today the our child’s data was given to a parent who published it after removing names. Searching led me to this thread. My child is not receiving any special services/special education but info was included in this breach. The letter is annoying as it doesn’t say exactly what was shared about my child, just list the types of info that may have been shared.

Me too. Calling the help line to figure out exactly what was shared for my kid and then published on the internet. I assume they won't give out this information.

If you reach out to Callie, she might be willing to tell you. I was able to find what was leaked about my child pretty quickly on her website.

As an affected parent she has lost any possible credibility or support by her choice to publish this information. I’m not going to reach out to a someone acting like a petulant child. Her decision making is seriously flawed.

[Anonymous]

Seriously. She’s the problem. Even if it is just my kid’s name and when his IEP is due. People just spend their free time trying to mess with FCPS and cause trouble. Get a real hobby. Help the homeless. Something. I’ll just file this away and move on but I hope she gets in trouble for posting all this info. I know whenever I am in school- both as a volunteer or teacher- privacy has been made very clear. It’s totally unacceptable for her to FOIA her kid and then post every other kids’ info even though it was a terrible mistake by FCPS. IT’s people like her who are half the problem.

[Anonymous]

We got the letter in the mail saying that info was shared on DC. UGH.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ugh. While I sympathize, this woman has wreaked operational havoc on the schools her children have attended. I know one AP who spent her summer dealing with document requests from her instead of working on things that were needed to open school in the fall.

She was an "advocate" for one of the students in my lower ES class. She and the mom of the child were nasty from the second we sat down in an initial meeting. I typically walk into a meeting and present a pleasant greeting and small talk. Neither would make eye contact, let alone smile. They interrupted and they looked for any opportunity to find a "gotcha" moment. I remember trying to point out some positives about the child's academic work and they didn't want to hear it. It was all very negative and stressful when all I wanted to do was work with the parent in support of the child.

Nobody owes you pleasantries especially during a stressful time. Your focus once you walk in that room should be identifying problems and solutions to help that child. The parent (or child if they are present) should be the lead voice of the meeting, if they find it necessary to interrupt anyone then so be it. Sounds like you weren’t being helpful and they were trying to best utilize the time and keep the focus on identifying concerns and solutions. An advocate is there to help advocate for the child/parent and step in when they need to keep the focus on problems and solutions, it sounds like they did that. If something offended you then you should use it as a learning experience for how to conduct yourself differently next time. A productive IEP will skew negative and stressful in general, so you might need to change your expectations. I hope you keep the bad mouthing of other advocates and parents to yourself though, it’s really not a good look for a teacher.

You are so wrong. Even in an IEP meeting “identifying problems and solutions,” it is unacceptable for anyone at the table to be rude, hostile, verbally abusive, mean, or unprofessional. anyone. The fact that parents think it is acceptable is wrong. In no other setting or situation is this acceptable. Nor is it effective.

You can be effective, advocate, and disagree without being hostile, verbally abusive, or attacking.

Perhaps teachers, particularly when an advocate is involved, should approach meetings in a similar way. Zero pleasantries, minimal eye contact. Interrupt when necessary. If the committee is coming up with unrealistic goals, or the parent and advocate are pushing for services you know can’t be met or provided within reason, dissent on the decision.

I assume teachers and admins think they are perfect during meetings?

No, but apparently some advocates see any amount of cordiality and pleasantries as weakness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When you file your lawsuit- can you figure out who else got the information? I am not concerned that Callie has it but all the other people who have it and are not careful with it.

This is a misdirection post that implies Callie is somehow trustworthy with the data, which is a fallacy. I assume you are also Callie.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure what the endgame of Callie is. FERPA is a pretty weak law.

If a school district in the United States violates the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), the U.S. Department of Education can take several actions:

1. Investigation and Review: The Department of Education, through its Family Policy Compliance Office (FPCO), can investigate complaints about alleged FERPA violations. If a violation is found, the Department will typically work with the school district to ensure compliance.

2. Technical Assistance: The Department may provide technical assistance to the school district to help it come into compliance with FERPA. This could include guidance on how to properly handle educational records and train staff.

3. Compliance Agreement: The Department might require the school district to enter into a compliance agreement. This is a formal agreement in which the district commits to specific actions to correct the FERPA violation and prevent future occurrences.

4. Funding Sanctions: Although rare, the Department of Education has the authority to withhold federal funding from a school district that fails to comply with FERPA. This is usually a last resort, used only when a school district repeatedly fails to comply with the law after other attempts to rectify the situation.

5. (FCPS HAS ALREADY DONE THIS) Public Notification: In some cases, the Department might require the school district to notify the public or affected individuals about the violation and the steps being taken to correct it.

It's important to note that FERPA does NOT provide a mechanism for individual financial compensation in the case of a violation. The act's primary enforcement mechanism is the potential withdrawal of federal funding from institutions that fail to comply with the law. However, such actions are relatively rare, as the Department typically focuses on bringing institutions into compliance through guidance and corrective action plans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:According to the article, she got the data because it was included as part of her children's education record (which makes no sense).

"Oettinger, 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 children’s files — data such as test scores, attendance records and audio recordings of meetings she’s 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 35,000 students."

Something stinks about this. FCPS just happens to leak huge amounts of data to a major advocate against FCPS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:According to the article, she got the data because it was included as part of her children's education record (which makes no sense).

"Oettinger, 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 children’s files — data such as test scores, attendance records and audio recordings of meetings she’s 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 35,000 students."

Something stinks about this. FCPS just happens to leak huge amounts of data to a major advocate against FCPS?

An average, non-self aggrandizing individual would recognize the FCPS mistake and inform them, then delete the file. Callie saw this as an opportunity for self-promotion. I blame FCPS, but a normal person would not put this information on the internet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a lawyer who has some familiarity with large companies and their data security, I find it laughable that people expect a school district to have similar security. If they set aside the budget for that, everyone would be furious. That's not what school administration is for, it's not what we want them to be skilled experts in.

You're wrong.

-- Lawyer

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Bottom line -
Parents of SPED students, thank Callie. Maybe even throw $20 at her to pay for the website.
Educators: you don’t stick to this profession because it’s glamorous. You do it because you love kids ad want to help. But sometimes you need to get off that pedestal, step down and pay attention. Doesn’t matter how much you know, you still have something to learn! One day it’s likely to help you, and to help your students!

Rant over.

You are Callie.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Seriously. She’s the problem. Even if it is just my kid’s name and when his IEP is due. People just spend their free time trying to mess with FCPS and cause trouble. Get a real hobby. Help the homeless. Something. I’ll just file this away and move on but I hope she gets in trouble for posting all this info. I know whenever I am in school- both as a volunteer or teacher- privacy has been made very clear. It’s totally unacceptable for her to FOIA her kid and then post every other kids’ info even though it was a terrible mistake by FCPS. IT’s people like her who are half the problem.

Agree. +1million. Callie and people like her need a life. They have a mission to destroy and damage FCPS at any cost. FCPS is certainly not perfect and neither are staff (they are humans!!), but her behavior is atrocious. She (and her kind) just pour gasoline on fire and like to burn FCPS.

I suspect some poor innocent office/administrative staff gave her a stack of envelope of papers, and extra papers got added. I highly doubt other students documents were a part of her child’s records.

A decent human would have told said office staff “oops you made a mistake” and returned papers and notified the school admin of another staff in central office, with the goal of process improvement. Instead, Callie starts dumpster fire and enjoys watching FCPS take the heat. That is not advocacy or helping students with disabilities.

[Anonymous]

Callie = Renee Bach of public school data leaks.

[Anonymous]

Why does school office admin assistant Linda Blahblah have access to all those kids’ IEP records? Presumably not even at Callie’s child’s school judging by the size of the breach. FCPS needs to crack down on its own security procedures.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does school office admin assistant Linda Blahblah have access to all those kids’ IEP records? Presumably not even at Callie’s child’s school judging by the size of the breach. FCPS needs to crack down on its own security procedures.

I don't think anyone here disagrees with you. Again, a normal person (i.e. "not Callie") would have told FCPS "you sent me too much info, I am deleting it." But Callie didn't do that because she needs it to fuel her narcissistic or borderline sociopathic need to get attention.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does school office admin assistant Linda Blahblah have access to all those kids’ IEP records? Presumably not even at Callie’s child’s school judging by the size of the breach. FCPS needs to crack down on its own security procedures.

Because some employee needs to compile records to comply with demands for data. What, like they should task an educator or a high level team just to accommodate Callie’s FOIA requests? And when someone like Callie demands data constantly, mistakes can happen.

Why is it okay for Callie to hang on to kids’ personal information and look through it?