RALEIGH, N.C. — In response to the recent rise in school violence, North Carolina lawmakers have passed a bill requiring all schools to have threat assessment teams in place by 2024.
"We have already started last year, training schools on building threat assessment teams," Karen Wright Fairley, the executive director of the Center for Safe Schools, said.
These teams will be made up of administrators, counselors, school resource officers and other staff who will be responsible for identifying and addressing potential threats of violence.
The goal of the teams is to prevent violence before it happens and to provide support to students who are struggling.
State Superintendent Catherine Truitt said teachers already have a large burden.
"I firmly believe that teachers should not be responsible for the mental health needs of students. Teachers can, as one speaker put it this morning, love on students and be there for students," Truitt said.
That's where threat assessment teams come in.
The threat assessment teams will be responsible for conducting assessments of students who are exhibiting concerning behavior. This could include students who are making threats, who are showing signs of mental health problems, or who are simply struggling to cope with school or personal problems.
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The teams will then develop a plan to address the student's needs, which could include providing counseling, connecting the student with community resources, or even referring the student for law enforcement intervention.
Some schools already have some form of threat assessment team.
"What we were trying to do with House Bill 605 is to get consistency," Fairley said.
They’ll look to larger schools to help with that.
"We're going to utilize some of them to help us as we set our standards and guidelines, but what we want to do is to make sure that all the districts have that support," Fairley said.
The North Carolina Center For Safer Schools said it’s here as a resource.
"There are a lot of smaller districts who are struggling with not having enough resources and that's where the Center for Safer Schools will come in," Fairley said.
The bill also requires all schools to establish peer-to-peer student support programs. These programs will provide students with a safe space to talk about their problems and get support from their peers.
The programs will also be responsible for educating students about the warning signs of violence and how to report potential threats.
Contact Shamarria Morrison at smorrison@wcnc.com and follow her on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.