Virginia School District Leaves Students Vulnerable by Posting Crisis Plan Online
A Virginia school district publically posted crisis emergency plans to its website.
- By Sydny Shepard
- August 15, 2018
Crisis plans that detailed the medical issues of dozens of Norfolk, Va. students and teachers have been posted online for the past year for anyone to accesses, according to a local news station.
Floor maps of the three schools also were posted last week. By making the plans public, the district likely violated student privacy laws and jeopardized the safety of students and staff. The plans have since been taken down.
The state requires every school to develop written emergency plans. School boards must approve those plans annually, as Norfolk plans to do Wednesday, and provide copies to key law enforcement officials. The crisis plans were originally posted to the schools website as part of the agenda for this week's board meeting.
The publically posted plans included names and contact information of people expected to carry out the plan, key locations of people, assembly points, equipment and supplies - all information that the state's model plan suggests should be available.
A district spokeswoman said the plans should not have been posted online.
"It was a page evidently that should have been redacted," Khalilah LeGrand said. "We are removing it immediately and checking protocols to make sure it doesn't happen again. We take very seriously keeping student records private."
About the Author
Sydny Shepard is the Executive Editor of Campus Security & Life Safety.