August 23, 2006- For Immediate Release
Columbia County Schools – 4781 Hereford Farm Road, Evans, GA 308092
For more information contact 706-541-2723 ext. 5202

Breach of Confidential Information at Evans Middle School Reported

Any Individuals Affected Will be Contacted

This news release is to notify employees and parents of Evans Middle School that a breach of confidential information was reported to Superintendent Tommy Price regarding employee and student information from 2002-2004. Unfortunately, one or more individuals trespassed onto the old Evans Middle School property, illegally entered the school building, rummaged through a bag filled with wastepaper, and took some of its contents. Ultimately, individuals involved in the discovery of the confidential information voluntarily chose to give the papers to Tommy Price, Superintendent of Schools.

It is not clear how or when the several pages of information were left behind instead of shredded and destroyed along with the many boxes moved at the closing of Evans Middle School. Parents and students should be assured that an internal investigation is underway to prevent any future occurrences. “We are concerned that we left behind important confidential information, and believe that it was probably an innocent oversight during the unusual compressed timeframe to move into the new Evans Middle School. However, no one had any right to trespass and remove any materials from our facility. Upon learning that additional sensitive information had been shared with the media and was more widespread than what was given to me, I reported the incident to the Sheriff’s Department for an investigation,” said Tommy Price.

Superintendent Price met with the faculty at Evans Middle on Tuesday afternoon to inform them of the trespass of their confidential information and provided steps for employees to monitor the use of personal information and place a fraud alert on their credit file. Parents of students enrolled in 8^th grade during the 2002-2003 school year will be contacted this week, along with past employees who worked at Evans Middle School from 2002-2004.

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