The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Anger after disabilities revealed
SCHOOL: Demand for answers after privacy breach at public presentation
Furious parents have called for heads to roll at Brechin High School after staff publicly named children with learning disabilities without their permission.
The community was left shocked after senior members of staff gave an assembly presentation listing young people with conditions such as autism.
One pupil stormed out of the assembly after saying staff should be “ashamed”.
A parent said: “It is not a witchhunt, but what they have done is a complete breach of trust.”
An Angus Council spokesman said: “We apologise for the obvious upset and concern this has caused.”
Senior teachers at Brechin High School should be “held responsible” for a public presentation that revealed pupils’ learning disabilities without their permission.
Pupils, parents and their families reacted with horror after it emerged senior members of staff at the school had given a presentation at assembly which listed those young people with conditions such as autism.
Many of the pupils had kept their conditions private and were left “extremely upset” by the incident, which is a breach of data privacy laws.
The presentation, given to more than 100 pupils in S4–S6 on preparation for prelim exams, also contained the names of those with visual impairments, dyslexia and those for whom English is not their first language.
One parent said: “Somebody has to be held responsible. There has to be culpability. It is not a witch-hunt, but what they have done is a complete breach of trust.”
She said she did not believe the names were listed in error, adding: “They knew what they were doing. There were four slides with names listed on them and they stayed on them.”
One pupil, who watched the presentation, said the two teachers giving it did not seem to be aware they were doing anything wrong.
She said they did not appear to realise their mistake until she walked out.
The pupil said: “I just got up and left. I said you are both disgusting and should be ashamed of yourselves.”
The UK Information Commissioner has been informed, as is legally required after serious breaches of personal data rules.
The school’s head teacher has also contacted the parents of all the children affected to offer them apologies.
Another parent, who did not wish to be named, said the family had chosen to keep their child’s condition secret.
He said: “This could set all of them back a long way. I cannot understand how this happened as part of an official presentation.”
An Angus Council spokesman said: “We can confirm that personal details were inappropriately shared to a pupilbased audience at one of our secondary schools on Monday.
“This is unacceptable and should not have happened under any circumstances. We apologise for the obvious upset and concern this has caused, particularly to those young people whose details were shown.
“Inquiries are under way to establish the full circumstances of this isolated incident.”
It is the second serious data breach by Angus Council this month.
Robbie Mcintosh attack victim Linda Mcdonald received an apology after a version of the serious case review into his home leave was published online with confidential information about her.