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• Epsom Girls Grammar principal Brenda McNaughton emailed a former student’s confidential details to another parent.
• The shared files included the student’s name, allegations against disgraced music teacher Peter Thomas and the girl’s “safety plan”.
• McNaughton said student safety and privacy were paramount and that the confidential information was shared in error.

A former Epsom Girls’ Grammar School pupil who complained about disgraced music teacher Peter Thomas is horrified that principal Brenda McNaughton shared her name and confidential details with another student’s father.

The files shared by McNaughton included lengthy notes on the girl’s allegations about Thomas, a copy of her “safety plan”, and court information the school was not legally allowed to disclose.

“It’s unacceptable, and it freaks me out,” former student Mia (not her real name) told the Herald.

“You’d think it would freak anyone out, especially when they have been asking for confidentiality through the process.

“It’s what I asked for back in high school, and it’s an odd feeling to see that breached years after the fact, not on my own terms.

“There’s stuff in there I don’t talk to people about, even today.”

McNaughton said the safety and privacy of students were paramount and that the confidential information was shared in error in response to an Official Information Act request.

“We are reviewing our procedures to ensure this does not happen again.”

McNaughton’s personal email address, as well as those of school board members, were blacked out but no attempts appear to have been made to conceal Mia’s identity.

Mia said she was told of the privacy breach on April 14 but, as of Wednesday, the school had not contacted her about the error.

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“At the very least, it would have been more open to be like, ‘Hey, we’ve accidentally let people know about this horrible thing that happened while you were at school.’”

Mia was the first teen to accuse Thomas of misconduct, alleging in 2018 and 2019 that he was having erections in class “more often than not”. However, her complaints were not upheld or made public.

Thomas denied the allegations at the time and told the Herald through his lawyer, Simon Mitchell, last year that he still denied them.

“They simply did not happen.”

Mitchell said this week that Thomas had asked the school to share what information had been disclosed in the privacy breach.

“Until it is clear what has occurred, it is difficult for him to comment.”

Thomas was censured and struck off in 2024 for having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a different student in 2019.

Mia decided to come forward last year when McNaughton emailed parents and caregivers in September, stating that, as soon as the school was made aware of “verified allegations” against Thomas, “immediate action was taken”.

She said she experienced guilt and regret that her earlier complaint against Thomas had not resulted in action that might have prevented his sexual misconduct against another student.

After the Herald published Mia’s story last year, McNaughton emailed parents and guardians, encouraging them to contact the school with any concerns.

In his capacity as a parent, Herald senior editor Matt Martel responded to her message with a series of questions from his personal email account.

His email, first sent on November 10, remained unanswered for several months, despite multiple follow-up requests.

He did not get a response from anyone at the school until March 11, after he filed an OIA request and copied in the Ministry of Education on February 25.

On April 3, nearly five months after Martel’s questions were filed, McNaughton responded.

In her email, she answered his questions and attached documents relating to Mia’s complaint.

Some of the files attached outlined Mia’s real name, her allegations against Thomas and highly sensitive personal information.

Peter Thomas was also a conductor with the Auckland Symphony Orchestra, with which he is pictured in 2017.

The Privacy Commissioner would not comment on the school’s privacy breach, saying only: “The Privacy Act protects the personal information of all New Zealanders, and it governs how organisations, government departments and businesses can collect, store, use and share personal information.”

Isabel Evans, the Ministry of Education’s hautū (leader) Te Tai Raro (North), said the Privacy Act mandated all agencies, including schools, to meet their obligations under the act and to have a privacy officer who could provide guidance on compliance obligations.

Also included in McNaughton’s email was a document created by the school summarising the allegations and the investigation that was undertaken.

The document states: “If a male teacher was coming to class with an erection, it is reasonable to believe that more than one person would notice. No other student has come forward to allege that this was or is occurring.”

Documents from the 2019 investigation show that the school didn’t believe Mia and questioned the truth of her allegations, stating that, if a male teacher was coming to class with an erection, the school would have quickly known about it.

The documents also questioned whether it was reasonable to believe that a male teacher would consistently develop an erection before specific time slots across two terms.

“Fourthly, linked to this, is the fact that all teachers are very aware of personal boundaries and all teachers are aware of their professional responsibilities and standards.”

The document said it would be reasonable to believe that other teachers would have noticed if the alleged erections were occurring.

“In summary, the investigation finds that there is no evidence to support the allegation.”

The school also concluded it was satisfied that what “has been alleged was not occurring”.

Mia said learning the extent of the “investigation” was also upsetting.

“At the time, I did feel that they had brushed me off and I wasn’t sure how much of an investigation they had done. But actually knowing that the investigation wasn’t all that thorough is very different to suspecting. Because you still want to believe the best in them.”

She felt more could have been done.

“At the very least, it would have been nice for them to have watched over a class or popped in unexpectedly. But it was all trusting [his] word.

“I wish they would have taken me more seriously.”

Katie Harris is an Auckland-based journalist who covers social issues including sexual assault, workplace misconduct, media, crime and justice. She joined the Herald in 2020.