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FRANCIS HOWELL: Stolen laptop could have employees’ personal info

The Francis Howell School District is warning employees that a laptop computer theft could have compromised personal information.

District spokeswoman Jennifer Gasper said the computer could have contained names and Social Security numbers for 1,700 noncertified employees. Anyone who worked for the district from 2005 through 2008 could be affected, she said.

"We are asking them to put a fraud alert on their credit cards as a precaution in case that information is accessed," Gasper said.

The district would provide identity theft insurance for all employees, she said.

The computer was password protected, so it is unlikely the information has been accessed, Gasper said.

The computer belonged to a Francis Howell employee in the district human resources department, she said.

Lt. Craig McGuire of the St. Charles County Sheriff’s Department said deputies responded to a call at 6:48 a.m. Wednesday. The previous night, someone had used a landscaping rock to break an exterior window on the northeast side of the district’s administrative building at 4545 Central School Road.

"We believe they reached through the window and removed a laptop computer that was sitting on someone’s desk," McGuire said.

No similar incidents had been reported recently, McGuire said.