Student information posted on school's website

Thursday, August 09, 2012

Tags:

wake county, iteam, abc11 investigates, shae crisson

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A Wake County mother told ABC11 she was outraged when she spotted what she called a pedophile's shopping list on a high school's website.

The mother was concerned when she saw a list posted under the link for school bus times on Millbrook High School's website. The list had each student's first and last name, as well as their bus stop or whether they were considered a walker.

"When I saw the information, I was breathless and knew I had to do something right away," the mother said.

She tried to contact the school district office, but when she was unsuccessful, she contacted the I-Team. The mother said she was concerned for younger children who may be approached by an estranged parent or a complete stranger.

"Basically it could be a pedophile's shopping list because all they had to do was look at first and last names and go to a bus stop," said the mom who asked not to be publically identified. "A 7 year old doesn't have the reasoning ability to say, 'Hey, this person called me by my first and last name and said my mom told me to pick them up. So why shouldn't I go?"

When the I-Team called Millbrook High School, principal Dana King was shocked.

"This is clearly an oversight. We never intentionally post student information. We will determine how this happened and take it down immediately," King said.

The I-Team learned the mistake was only at Millbrook High School. Although the school district is ultimately responsible for content, each school is responsible for maintaining its own site. A staff member at Millbrook High School incorrectly posted the private list.

"It looks like it was up for just less than 11 hours. It went up just before midnight and was taken down just before 11 a.m. and was accessed by 12 unique IP addresses," Director of Public Relations Mike Charbonneau said. "The good thing is it was brought to our attention very soon after it went up, and we were able to remove it immediately."

School leaders ask anyone who sees something that causes them concern on any of the school websites to do what this parent did and speak up.

The school posted a notice on their website Wednesday to let parents know that the mistake happened and that their children's information was out there.