Hearing that a threat has been made against a school can be a pretty scary event for students, parents, staff, and the community. And having just gone through such an event, I thought there might be value in helping our parents and community understand how our school responds to these types of situations.
It is the duty of every employee of our school district to immediately report a threat against the school, our students, or our staff to an administrator. We hope our students, families, and community members will also consider it a responsibility as well.
When an administrator receives notification that a threat has been made, they begin the Threat Assessment Process:
The first step is to conduct an investigation. This usually includes conducting interviews with witnesses and the person making the threat and potentially checking video surveillance and social media. It's also important at this stage to take into consideration the circumstances under which the threat was made and to the best of our ability, determine the individual's intentions. If our admins have the ability to interview the person making the threat, we will also conduct a threat assessment. If the district is unable to gather reliable information at a reasonable rate during the investigation, it is likely that we will act out of an abundance of caution and move to a lockout setting until a better assessment of the situation can be made. I want to make it clear that I am discussing how we address threats, not active violators. We address that scenario differently.
Based on the information conducted in the investigation, administrators have to determine if the threat poses an emergency situation. If so, the admin team will immediately contact law enforcement and take action to protect all potential victims. This could include a lockout or lockdown setting, based on the situation. If the threat is not deemed immediate, the district will initiate a mental health evaluation of the individual. This assessment is conducted by an outside mental health agency and students must be deemed as not being a risk to themself or others before returning to school.
Upon returning to school, students who have made threats will receive a consequence based on the nature and severity of the threat in alignment with the district Behavior and Discipline Code.
There is no shortage of evidence that speaks to a somber truth. Nationwide, despite our best efforts, schools are unable to guarantee the safety of our students and staff. We can and should, however, in my opinion, share with you both our processes and our commitment to safety. We take all threats seriously and are committed to implementing a crisis management plan that mitigates risks of all kinds to the greatest degree possible.
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