AUGUSTA — It was an “I- told-you-so” moment that James Handy hoped he wouldn’t see.

But the Lewiston School Committee chairman was not surprised Tuesday when the Maine Department of Education announced its decision to delay submission of student Social Security numbers to the state, after a technology director for a Maine school system was able to view restricted information. The school employee was able to view Social Security numbers for staff in other districts through the state database.

“This was something that the Lewiston School Committee said could happen,” Handy said Tuesday night. “It was a security break. They can spin it any way they want.”

Handy and other members of the Lewiston School Committee adamantly opposed the new state law requiring that schools ask parents to submit their children’s Social Security numbers in an effort to track students’ progress after they graduate from high school.

The controversial law had critics such as Handy contending that schools collecting individual Social Security numbers this fall could put students at risk for things such as identity theft.

“This is clearly a break. It would be one thing if it happened within the confines of the Department of Education, but it got beyond the walls of the department,” Handy said.

Handy said that while Lewiston complied with the state law by asking parents for the Social Security numbers on forms it sent home, the School Committee passed a resolution included on the same paperwork discouraging parents from providing the sensitive information.

The state announced Tuesday that it is taking several immediate steps to strengthen public confidence in its student and staff data information systems. In addition to delaying the collection of  Social Security numbers, officials also ordered an independent review of the security of its systems.

Moreover, the state will delete any student Social Security numbers already entered or uploaded into the system this year. The Department of Education also restricted access to the system so that no locally-entered data can be shared with or viewed by the state or any other user.

In a press release issued Tuesday, the Department of Education said that the error was discovered Friday and immediately fixed.

“We deeply appreciate that this technology director immediately recognized the issue and called the Department to inform us of the error and it was resolved immediately,” said Education Commissioner Angela Faherty. “The Department takes the security of private information seriously, and supports school boards, parents and school officials in their caution with respect to the collection of data.”

School officials, such as Handy, said the state should listen more to those at the grassroots level when it comes to issues like this. Handy said that Lewiston was one of many districts ahead of the curve in terms of raising concerns about the concept of collecting Social Security numbers to be entered into a database.

“We’ve been proven to have acted in the best interests of the children and families we serve,” Handy said.

State officials expect that the review will be completed in the next several weeks.