Pearson Data Breach

August 29, 2019

LaFayette CSD subject to Pearson Data Breach

LaFayette Central School District was recently advised by Pearson Education Inc. that some student information from the AIMSweb1.0 was accessed by an unauthorized third party.  AIMSweb is a reading and math diagnostic assessment tool used to screen students for basic reading and math skills. The district purchased this assessment through the Central New York Regional Information Center who has been assisting LaFayette Central School Districts in responding to this data breach.

Pearson reports it has taken steps to remediate the incident as well as put in place enhanced protections to guard against similar incidents.  Originally the district was informed by Pearson that 56 LaFayette student first names and last names were subject to the breach along with one staff member's name and email address. Today, the district was informed that 1,052 student names, dates of birth, and unique identifiers were disclosed to an unauthorized third party along along with 83 first and last names for staff members who used Aimsweb. LaFayette Central School District will no longer utilize Aimsweb as a reading and math assessment tool.

Any impacted students, staff members and their families will be notified directly via first class mail. Pearson is offering impacted students and staff members free credit monitoring services through Experian. Individuals who believe that they might have been impacted by this breach can contact Experian credit monitoring service directly at 866-883-3309.  

The security of  student information is a priority.  It is our understanding that there is no evidence that student or staff information has been misused, but we will continue to monitor Pearson’s response  to this data security incident.  If you have any questions regarding LaFayette Central School District’s response to this situation, please feel free to contact Jeremy Belfield, Superintendent of Schools at 315-677-9728 or 315-529-9550. 

You can learn more about the Central New York Regional Information Center’s response to this data breach by visiting - www.cnyric.org/pearsoninfo