Security lapse allowed 13K former employees access to Orange County schools

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — Channel 9’s Karla Ray learned the lapse involves electronic key cards that allow people access to buildings within the Orange County School District.

The security director for the district told Eyewitness News many of those cards were likely turned in when employees left the district, but right now security staff members are scrambling to fix the problem that has been going on for years.

A just-released audit done by the Orange County School District leaders showed the access cards of thousands of former employee and vendors weren't deactivated after they quit or got fired.

According to the audit, the software used to grant remote access to schools and central offices doesn't integrate with the district's employee database.

“When an employee leaves employment with the district or changes status, the system is not notified of that change and no adjustment can be made as a result,” said Douglas Tripp, director of security with the Orange County School District.

Tripp told Eyewitness News there haven't been any known breaches, and 10,000 of those cards have since been deactivated. The rest have to be removed individually.

“Our staff will have to go manually through each record to validate whether it's an active record or should be deleted,” Tripp said.

But parents told Eyewitness News they still worry about who may have been using the cards without anyone noticing.

School district leaders said in addition to manually removing the cards that are supposed to be inactive, they’re implementing a system in which badges are deactivated after more than 30 days without use.

Contact Karla Ray for questions or more on this story.

Cox Media Group