We were recently notified of a student data breach that occurred with a vendor we use, Illuminate Education. The product, eduCLIMBER, was determined to have exposed student demographics information as part of a migration of data. We were just informed of this breach recently, although it occurred back in January. Data for every District 6 student, including charter school students, was reportedly compromised. All families should be receiving an official notification from Illuminate Education through the U.S. mail explaining this breach in more detail. This was a nationwide breach and nearly every school district using this product, including many in Colorado, were involved.
Our Student Information Services personnel have been working with Illuminate Education to identify what data was involved in this breach. We have been told it was student demographic and enrollment information including name, gender, birthdate, grade, class and school. We do not maintain records of social security numbers for our students, so that information was not in the breach. No home address or parental information was in the data breach.
Please take time to read the letter from Illuminate Education when you receive it. There will be more information in the Illuminate Education letter on who to contact if you have concerns or questions. The company plans to offer a year of identity monitoring free of charge. Although this breach was not the fault of our school district, we are sorry for any worry or inconvenience it may cause. Our Board of Education discussed this issue during an executive session meeting tonight, and they will discuss it again at its meeting May 23. We will communicate again if we receive any additional information beyond what you will be getting from Illuminate Education.
