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Students' Old Medical, Exam Records Found Piled On Curb Outside Brooklyn Public School
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Aug 9, 2012
Modified Aug 10, 2012
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Peter Cuce / Gothamist
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Aug 9, 2012
Modified Aug 10, 2012
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A large pile of student records were found on the curb outside a Brooklyn elementary school earlier this afternoon. Medical, test, attendance, and transfer records dating back to the late 1970s and as recent as 1994 were among scores of other documents found on the curb of Park Place behind P.S. 316. in Prospect Heights. The records include names, birthdates, addresses, phone numbers, Medicaid numbers, and other personal information. Three men who were cleaning the school around the time the records were discovered denied knowing how they ended up next to a trash bag of empty bottles on the street. "We don't know anything about it," one worker said. Another added, "For damn sure we don't know anything about it!"
The men, who declined to give their names because they did not want to be associated with the discarded documents, said that they were cleaning the school before students arrived, and that the documents never should have been put there. "Someone had to have gone into the dumpster for that. We don't put anything on the curb." Another pointed to a large stack of records sitting in a stairwell. "We have all the medical records right here. Then they're supposed to be shredded. We shred everything."
The records, some of which were obtained by Gothamist, include report cards and comments from teachers. One notation from a teacher of a sixth grade student notes that the student is "very slow in thought process. Does not work unless encouraged. Tends to be lazy but is very great."
The records sit on the curb (Peter Cuce / Gothamist)
Another student's medical record indicates that they are allergic to "peanuts, watermelon, apple juice, raisins, chocolate." Others reveal that some students, all identified by name, have not been properly vaccinated, or note heart conditions or other ailments. There are reams of forms that include hundreds of students names as well as their phone numbers, home addresses, parents names, mothers' maiden names, and exam scores.
Notably, none of the records we inspected included social security numbers, as all of them used 9-digit New York City student ID numbers.
One of the records includes a letter from P.S. 316's principal in November of 1994, Robert Jenkins, to a parent of a student that tripped a classmate "at line-up time." The tripped student "fell and hurt his leg and split the knee of his pants." Principal Jenkins asks the mother of the student to call the injured student's mother to "resolve this matter," as "someone has to be responsible for what happens," and includes the mother's phone number and times when she can be reached.
(Peter Cuce / Gothamist)
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, Marge Feinberg, wrote via email, "Private records, including student records, are required to be discard in a way to protect the confidentiality. Some records were planned to be discarded at PS 316 and they were supposed to be boxed and sent to the basement." Feinberg added, "We are looking into this matter."
The three men cleaning P.S. 316 said they were part of a crew of four. When we expressed surprise that the entire school would be cleaned by four men, one of them exclaimed, "Yeah, right! Exactly! We'll get it done before the kids get there though." After being told that some of the medical records dated from the 1970s, another man said, "I know they might be 30-something years old, but still. That's an invasion of somebody's privacy!"
Carrie Dennis, Rachel Pincus and Jen Chung contributed research to this report
Tagged
prospect heights
ps 316
report cards
sealed records
original
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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