The Marion City Schools voted unanimously May 10 to terminate the contract of an employee who violated the district’s computer network/system policies and procedures.
A district investigation that included employing an outside computer forensic firm to review the district’s computer network determined that an employee who works in the IT department accessed information without authorization. The employee allegedly did this beyond the scope of his position.
While this primarily included breached employee emails as well as confidential attorney-client privileged information, some access to student education records was also noted. There is no evidence that this unauthorized access involved any employees’ personal or financial information or the personal information of any students.
“Security is our top priority and we take the violation of our network and trust very seriously,” said Interim Superintendent Stephen Fujii. “We are outraged at this clear violation of trust. We are actively reviewing and updating our procedures. We are earnestly addressing this concern and have involved the Marion Police Department in our investigation.”
The district placed the employee on paid leave on April 26 and terminated his access to the district’s computer network at that time. The employee will not receive any form of compensation from the district following the board vote.
The issue remains under investigation by the district.