Spring ISD employees on leave after mistakenly leaking sensitive data in email, district says

SPRING, Texas (KTRK) -- Multiple Spring ISD employees are on leave after mistakenly sending an email containing other employees' Social Security numbers, the district confirmed late Friday.

Spring ISD emailed its 5,600 employees at 4:50 p.m. to inform them of the breach, hours after Eyewitness News began asking the district about it.

In its email, the district said employees' personal information was inadvertently included in another email sent Thursday to community district partners in support of Teacher Appreciation Week.

The email included employee names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth, according to officials.

The district said that upon learning of the situation, its leaders asked the recipients of the email to delete it and not share the information. The district also said it notified the appropriate state agencies about the leak, as required by law.

In an email to employees, the district said it was reviewing the incident and the circumstances surrounding the delivery of the email to ensure corrective measures are taken. In a later statement shared with Eyewitness News, the district said the employees involved have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation.

Spring ISD shared credit-monitoring resources with all its employees and expressed regret that this occurred.

The district did not immediately say how many employees were involved in delivering the email or how many were affected by the leak.

They also didn't specify how the mistake was made.