Schools Tighten Security With Threat Assessment Teams In Mendham

MENDHAM/CHESTER, NJ — All Mendham and Chester schools 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 on Monday.

Following the May school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, which killed 19 children and two teachers, state lawmakers introduced legislation requiring all public and charter schools to create 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.

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.

"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."

West Morris Regional High School District has Class 3 police officers in both of its schools. "The district has determined that it is in the best interest for the safety of its students and staff to utilize Class 3 SLEO for the protection of its schools," the board said.

Following the shooting, police presence was also enhanced in all of the schools in Mendham Township and in all of the schools in Chester.

According to the new law, all Mendham and Chester school boards must develop a policy for forming these teams based on guidelines provided by the state Department of Education.

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

"I really, truly believe that if we focus on students that are in crisis before they cause harm to themselves or others, we can be the most impactful," said State Assembly Education Committee Chair Pamela Lampitt. "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."

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.