School Committee Member Resigns Following Breach of Student Data

A member of the Tewksbury School Committee has resigned, saying the department’s recent data breach, publishing student information online, was a factor in her decision.

Tewksbury School Committee member Lisa Puccia, resigned Friday afternoon, the Tewksbury Town Crier is reporting.

In her letter of resignation, Puccia cites the recent data breach by the school district of its out of district special education student information, as a reason she feels she can’t fulfill her role on the School Committee. Puccia’s child’s information was included in that list published online.

The resignation comes just two weeks after Tewksbury Superintendent of Schools John O’Connor apologized to outraged parents after private student data was was posted online. The special education student information was posted online earlier in the month, much of which was information contained in a document included in a 222-page School Committee packet.

The documents detailed out-of-district placements for 83 students. A spreadsheet includes a list of the students with out of district placements, and includes other information including a ranking of parents as “cooperative,” “somewhat cooperative,” and “not cooperative.”