Schools

Officials: 2,000 Fairfax County Public Schools Health Files Stolen

Laptop stolen from school nurse's car contained names, ID numbers, health information about students from six Fairfax County schools, one academy.

by Erica R. Hendry

The names and health records of 2,000 current and former students stored on the laptop and in the briefcase of a Fairfax County school nurse have been stolen, school officials said.

Fairfax County Pubic Schools Superintendent Karen Garza said in a note to parents a county health department-issued laptop computer and case were stolen from the nurse's vehicle July 15.

The files were both electronic and hard-copy, schools spokesman John Torre told Patch, and contained information on students at Brookfield, Fairfax Villa and Navy elementary schools, Lanier and Rocky Run middle schools and Chantilly High School, along with Chantilly Academy.

The nurse is a county employee, not a FCPS employee, he said.

The files included children's names, student ID numbers and "health information such as whether your child has an allergy or other medical condition," Garza wrote.

Most other personally identifiable information — like social security numbers, health insurance information and social security numbers — were not included in the stolen files, Garza wrote.   

The school system is contacting each affected family to notify them of the theft, Garza said; it has also been reported to police. 

Health department spokesman Glen Barbour told the Washington Post the school nurse — who is not being identified — would likely be disciplined.

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Fairfax had another security breach last year, when Fairfax High School Final Grades were leaked on local site Fairfax Underground.

The system went to court to get the grades taken down, Torre said. 

Parents with concerns or questions about the health records of their children should contact the Department of Communications and Community Outreach at fcpsinfo@fcps.edu or 571-423-1200.


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