Safety Threat Assessment Threat Assessments Essentials of School

Safety & Threat Assessment

Threat Assessments • Essentials of School Threat Assessment • Establish Authority and Leadership to Conduct an Inquiry • Develop a Multidisciplinary Threat Assessment Team that is Based in the School or District and Provide Ongoing Training • Establish Integrated and Interagency Systems Relationships and Partnerships to Respond to Public Safety Concerns • Provide Awareness Training for Staff, Students, Parents, and Community Partners in Warning Signs of Violence and Reporting Procedures • Administrator Role • A senior, respected, and trained member of the Administration* chairs the Threat Assessment team *(Not a mental health provider- the school administrator must be in a leadership position to make an executive decision about safety of the school/students)

Threat Assessment Inquiry Steps 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Assemble the Threat Assessment Team Gather a Variety of Information Use Multiple Data Sources Organize and Analyze the Information Determination of Concern Leading to a Response, Management, and Support Plan 6. Develop a Response, Management, and Support (RMS) Plan 7. Document the Threat Assessment and Keep Records 8. Continue Monitoring of the Student and the Effectiveness of the RMS Plan

Resources • Colorado School Safety Resource Center • Essentials of School Threat Assessment • NASP ONLINE

Future Training Opportunities • CSSRC Online Modules • CSI Customized Training • Nov. 6, 2019, PP BOCES • CSSRC Digital Threat Assessment Training • Sept 23 -27, 2019 • Centennial, CO • Basic, Advanced, Train-the-Trainer • 2019 Colorado Safe Schools Summit • October 24 th & 25 th

Columbia Suicide Assessment • Most widely used Screener in Colorado • Schools, Police dept, etc. General info: • http: //cssrs. columbia. edu/the-columbia-scale-cssrs/about-the-scale/ • Main Video & Forms • Protocols

Safe Schools Act • Safe Schools Act Checklist • School Safety Readiness and Incident Management Plan Checklist • Colorado School Safety Resource Center School Safety Planning: Elements Checklist • School Safety Planning – July 2015 Webinar with the Colorado School Safety Resource Center (CSSRC)

Claire Davis Act • Generally, governmental immunity (sovereign immunity) is in place for public entities like public schools. Claire Davis Act limits this waiver in certain instances. • C. R. S. 24 -10 -106. 3: Imposes a limited waiver of sovereign immunity (opens up liability) for schools if a school fails to exercise “reasonable care” to protect all students, faculty and staff from “reasonably foreseeable” acts of violence that occurs at school or a school-sponsored event.

Claire Davis Act • “Crime of violence”: means that the person committed, conspired to commit, or attempted to commit one of the following crimes: murder; first degree assault; or a felony sexual assault • A school shall not be found negligent under this section solely as a result of not expelling or suspending any student • An employee of a public school is not subject to suit under this section in his or her individual capacity unless the employee’s actions or omissions are willful and wanton.

Claire Davis Act - Resources • Claire Davis School Safety Act – Colorado School Safety Resource Center • Claire Davis School Safety Act one page resource • School Safety requirements from the Safe Schools Act & CSSRC Recommendations

Lessons Learned: Report on the Arapahoe High School Shooting • Three Major Failures • Information Sharing • Failure to use SIS to document behavioral and safety concerns (threat, risk, academic, discipline response) • Failure to train students and staff in an anonymous reporting system (Safe 2 Tell) • Failure to implement an Interagency Information Sharing Agreement to exchange vital information about students of concern with law enforcement and other community agencies

Lessons Learned: Report on the Arapahoe High School Shooting • Three Major Failures • Threat Assessment • AHS’s failure to adequately implement Littleton Public Schools’ threat assessment policies and • LPS’s failure to validate its threat assessment tool and process • Completion of threat assessment process: minimal attempt to obtain information about all of the risk factors. • Failure to Train on Threat Assessment: principal and assistant principal who conducted the threat assessment were never trained. • Failure of Threat Assessment follow-up and safety planning

Lessons Learned: Report on the Arapahoe High School Shooting • Three Major Failures • Systems Thinking • Not one error caused this event, but many small systems failures. • Examples: • Decision to leave the SRO out of the threat assessment process. • Decision to not inform the threat assessment team about the shooter’s viewing of guns and mass shootings on his laptop. • Decision to not tell student’s teachers the reason for a threat assessment, detention, or suspension.

Lessons Learned: Report on the Arapahoe High School Shooting • Information Sharing • Ensure that an “information vortex” is in place with information about a student and that the people who need access have access. • Threat Assessment • Continuously trained • Follow-up and updated • Systems Thinking • Process in place for reviewing procedures and any errors

Post-Incident Reports and Resources • Report on the Arapahoe High School Shooting • Enhancing School Safety Using A Threat Assessment Model – US Secret Service • Columbine Review Commission