Stolen Laptop Held Data on Hundreds of Md. Special Ed Students

The machine was taken from WestEd, a nonprofit organization that had assisted Montgomery County, Md. school system officials with a review of its special education processes and procedures.

The results of the review were issued in October. But the data remained on the hard drive of at least one WestEd computer. That laptop was pinched Nov. 3, when intruders broke into the organization’s D.C. offices and carted off five computers.

WestEd destroyed the data by the contract’s end, which officials think was Dec. 31.

Organization officials said they did not immediately realize student information was in the laptop but discovered the loss as they conducted an investigation. Montgomery school officials say they were told of the problem Nov. 24. WestEd finalized a letter to parents in late December and mailed the notifications on Jan. 5.

The laptop was password-protected and stored in an administrative assistant’s locked desk drawer. The affected data was in email attachments.

Montgomery County school officials say they had expected tighter controls on the student information.

“We are frustrated with their carelessness toward our records,” Montgomery schools spokesman Derek Turner said.

Elise Cohen, a Rockville parent with two sons who received two letters, was dismayed about the possibility of fraud, particularly for her teenager. “We’re concerned about any debt that could be incurred in his name and any of the other permutations of identity theft,” she said.

The data compromised included parent and student names, addresses, phone numbers, students’ birth dates, school status, disability, race, home language spoken, mediation and hearing outcomes, most- recent individualized education program meeting date and type, and school enrollment information. No Social Security numbers were included.