Ontario school board 'inadvertently' released names of unvaccinated staff

The Durham District School Board is apologizing after inadvertently sharing the names of staff members who are unvaccinated or have refused to disclose their status with nearly 400 people.

The privacy breach happened when the board sent out a “routine email” on rapid test compliance on Jan 5.

The board says that a spreadsheet containing a list of the approximately 800 employees who are unvaccinated or prefer not to disclose was “inadvertently” attached to the email.

The board said that once it realized the error it took immediate action to recall the email.

However, it said that the “incident should not have happened” and promised “to do everything possible to ensure that a similar incident does not occur in the future.

“We have discussed this incident to ensure there is a clear understanding of the critical importance of verifying that emails do not contain attachments of this nature and of the need to protect this type of information,” a statement from the board reads. “We are providing additional training for all staff involved with secure documents. In addition, the DDSB is reviewing its practices related to the handling of sensitive information, including the consideration of additional security measures for spreadsheets and/or documents of this nature.”

All Durham District School Board employees are required to disclose their vaccination status.

Unvaccinated employees can continue to attend work if they partake in a rapid testing program.