School Security To Increase With Threat Assessment Teams In Chatham

CHATHAM, NJ — The Chatham School District will be required to form threat assessment teams this fall to evaluate students who may pose a threat to school safety, under a new law signed by Gov. Phil Murphy this week.

Following the May school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 children and two teachers were killed, state lawmakers introduced legislation requiring all public and charter schools to form staff teams as a preventive measure, in addition to other student mental health initiatives.

Threat assessment teams will assist teachers, administrators, and other school personnel in identifying students of concern and assessing their risk of engaging in violence.

The teams will also help deliver intervention strategies for students who pose a potential safety risk in order to prevent targeted violence in the school and to ensure a safe and secure school environment that improves the learning experience for all members of the school community, according to officials.

The identities of students who come to the attention of the team will be kept confidential, according to the law. The team will be required to consult with the staff assigned to students who receive special services or have Individualized Education Plans due to learning disabilities.

The threat assessment teams will consist of :

• A school psychologist, school counselor, school social worker, or another school employee with expertise in student counseling;
• A teacher;
• A school principal or other senior administrator;
• A safe schools resource officer or school employee who serves as a school liaison to law enforcement; and
• The designated school safety specialist.

According to the law, members of the teams must receive training on childhood trauma, implicit bias, and "adverse childhood experiences." The training will be provided by school safety specialists.

"Members of both the Chatham Borough and Chatham Township Police Departments and I attended training sessions in 2019 by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Secret Service on behavioral threat assessment and management," Chatham Superintendent Michael LaSusa said.

"Keeping public spaces safe from any form of violence or harmful activities, especially in our schools, is of the utmost importance to me and this administration," Murphy said. "It is my hope that these threat assessment teams will help students and school employees feel safe and out of harm's way when they are at school, and for students who are considered to be a threat to receive the much-needed help they need at such a crucial time in their lives."

According to the new law, the Chatham school board must develop a policy for forming these teams based on guidelines provided by the state Department of Education.

Before establishing the teams, LaSusa stated that the district is waiting for more information from the New Jersey Department of Education on the specific requirements at the district and school levels.

The policy will specify which criteria will be used to assess a student's threatening behavior, who should be notified, how the behavior should be reported, the reporting process, the support resources that will be made available to the student, and how to refer or involve law enforcement if necessary.

"The new law will help us determine the right people around the table to have a conversation on how to diffuse school threats when they arise," said State Assembly Education Committee Chair Pamela Lampitt.

"We will establish our team(s) after consulting with the police and learning more about the requirements from the DOE," LaSusa added.