Threat Assessment Teams

Act 44 (2019) requires all schools to develop a Threat Assessment Team responsible for “the assessment of and intervention with students whose behavior may indicate a threat to the safety of the student, other students, school employees, school facilities, the community, or others.” In response to Act 44, the ELCO School Board approved Policy 236.1, Threat Assessment, in August 2021.

A threat is defined as communication or behavior that indicates an individual poses a danger to the safety of school staff or students through acts of violence or other behavior that would cause harm to self or others. The threat may be expressed/communicated behaviorally, orally, visually, in writing, electronically, or through any other means. These actions can be considered a threat regardless of whether it is observed by or communicated directly to the target of the threat or observed by a third party, and regardless of whether the target of the threat is aware of the threat.

The District may be made aware of potential threats through multiple methods, including reports by students, parents/guardians, staff, and community members, the Safe2Say Something program, and Securly web filtering. Any individual concerned about a potential threat should report that concern to a school staff member immediately.  

As required, the District has established a Threat Assessment Team whose members have received formalized Threat Assessment training. The team members include school counselors, a school police officer, a home and school visitor, school psychologists, building and district administrators, and the safety and security coordinator.  

The threat assessment process that the team conducts is a prevention strategy used to identify and assess threats of violence before the act occurs. The threat assessment team identifies situations or students posing a threat, gathers information from multiple sources, assesses the situation based on the information gathered, manages the risk, and recommends intervention. The goals of threat assessment are to keep our schools safe and to intervene with potential offenders, providing support and resources as appropriate. 

Questions regarding the threat assessment team, please contact Amy Shoemaker, Director of Pupil Services and Safety and Security Coordinator, at 717-866-7117 Ext 10821 or ashoemaker@elcosd.org