Fredericton school accidentally mails addresses, phone and medicare numbers to wrong parents

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By JENNIFER DUNVILLE
Canadaeast News Service

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The personal information of about 45 parents was accidently released by two teachers at Alexander Gibson Memorial School recently.

Forms including the addresses, phone and medicare numbers of Grade 1 students at the school were sent to the wrong homes.

Teachers were asked to have the parents of their students check the forms for errors, but two instructors misunderstood and assumed the forms were blank.

"Normally, we have blank forms requesting information from parents to keep on file, such as emergency contact numbers," says Alex Dingwall, superintendent of School District 18, which administers schools in the Fredericton area. "This year, instead of asking parents to fill out the forms again, we used the same ones they filled out last year, which means they weren't blank."

Dingwall says the two teachers didn't look at the forms and mailed them out randomly instead of sending them to the homes that corresponded with the information.

"Knowing your personal information went out to someone else would be quite disconcerting," Dingwall says. "We haven't had any incidents or complaints related to this, but we are certainly very sorry it occurred."

The superintendent says Gibson School staff have send out letters explaining and apologizing for the mistake. He says schools are normally protective of the personal information of students and their families, but mistakes can happen.

"It was just a mistake on the part of a couple teachers and the school is having the formed reprinted now," Dingwall says. "Parents who received someone else's information are being asked to disregard it."