WCBSTV reports:

Boxes of highly confidential student records were dumped on the curb, papers with Social Security numbers, signatures, and personal information – an identity theft nightmare waiting to happen.

What was found in the abandoned boxes would have been a gold mine for identity thieves: documents chock full of personal information that clearly should have gone through a shredder.

Cecilia Chiavini called CBS 2 about her alarming find on East 25th Street, outside a building that until recently housed the School for the Physical City.

Left out on the street were several boxes of documents loaded with the personal and private information of former students.

“I thought it was crazy for somebody to be throwing out all of that important information out in the street,” Chiavini said.

The first document she noticed was a file on Skyler Click, now 20 years old, whose phone number was in her carelessly tossed paperwork.

“I’m just sitting at home, and I get a call from Cecilia saying that she found my folder right on top of everything,” Click said. “This has a lot of my life in it, and I don’t understand why someone would just toss all this stuff out like that.”

All the paperwork, for dozens of students, appears to be old, dating back to the early 2000s – but Social Security numbers don’t expire. In Click’s case, the documents included the confidential, highly personal evaluations she never knew existed.

“I’m appalled, I’m infuriated, I am really flabbergasted,” Click said.

Federal law requires individuals, businesses, and governments to take appropriate measures when getting rid of sensitive information. Exactly who trashed the these documents in unknown.

CBS 2 contacted a representative of the Board of Education. That representative said that “improper disposal of student records is not acceptable. We are investigating and, if true, will take appropriate action.”

Now, scores of New Yorkers may have reason to worry that their personal information could be falling into the wrong hands, a sleepless night for them as they demand a full investigation.

The Department of Education did confirm that the school moved out of the building to another location over the summer.

An off-duty police officer ended up taking the files for safe-keeping.

(Source: CBS2 HD)