Exclusive: Student records found discarded in front of school in the South Bronx

MOUNT HOPE, Bronx (WABC) -- In a shocking breach of confidential information, names, addresses, even social security numbers for students and parents were found outside a Bronx school.

The question is, how did they get there?

Eyewitness News has learned exclusively that the pile of papers contain extremely personal documents, including private medical information and social security numbers of students, documents that no one outside the school is supposed to see, but that were left fully exposed on the street for anyone to see.

Some of these papers are about the 12-year-old daughter of a parent named Daisy.

"I'm very devastated, because that's my daughter's personal information," she said. "Anybody can do anything with it, social security numbers, my information was stolen. So it took a long time to get my information cleared."

We blurred the documents for our report. They were left on top of a pile of plastic bags Wednesday, and picked up by two people who work in the neighborhood who were shocked by the security lapse.

The papers were apparently left by workers at the Langston Hughes Young Explorers Academy, also called PS 236.

They are from the 2007-2008 school year, but many contain up to date addresses and phone numbers of students and parents, and potentially embarrassing medical information along with social security numbers.

"I just think that's really unbelievable that someone would just throw papers out with other people's information," said Daisy. "That's totally unacceptable."

The Department of Education said in a statement that, "We take this matter very seriously and it has been referred for investigation. We have procedures in place for the proper handling of student records and will ensure this matter is addressed".

If they know who left the records out, they would not say.

The people who found the documents took them off the street so they couldn't be used illegally.