By Sunayana Prabhu
Two River-area schools are gearing up for the back-to-school frenzy with an additional task this year. Intended to reinforce school security and prevent mass shootings, Gov. Phil Murphy signed a new law Aug. 1 requiring all New Jersey public school districts to create “threat assessment teams” for the 2023-24 school year. Districts are now planning how to implement the bill.
School boards in the area will be establishing these teams in the coming months under the new legislation and following state guidance.
“This requirement takes effect July 1, 2023,” Jared Rumage, Ed.D., superintendent of Red Bank Borough Public Schools, said. He noted they are awaiting further directions and “unless something changes, we will convene/discuss with other superintendents over the coming months to prepare for implementation in the ’23-’24 school year.”
Threat assessment teams in each school will consist of a safety specialist, a principal or other senior administrator, a school resource officer, a teacher and a psychologist, counselor, school social worker or school employee with expertise in student counseling.
The team will be tasked with identifying students who might engage in violence or other harmful activities. The team will also assess and deliver intervention strategies to manage the risk from students who pose a potential safety hazard to prevent targeted violence in the school.
Guidelines for threat assessment teams in each school district will be developed by the New Jersey Department of Education in consultation with state law enforcement agencies and the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.
“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,” Murphy said in a press statement.
The bill was adopted June 9, 2022, a month after the Uvalde, Texas school shooting, where a gunman killed 21 and injured 16 others. Schools in the Two River area ramped up security measures in that shooting’s aftermath. In addition to employing surveillance systems with updated cameras, schools continue to reevaluate and conduct active shooter drills as part of state law. Some school districts, like Middletown Township, expanded security measures by adding armed police officers on campus, a measure that still raises conflicted feelings for some.
At a Red Bank Council meeting July 27, council members argued about the need for an armed school resource officer (SRO) on campus. While councilwoman Kate Triggiano and Kathy Horgan have voted “Yes” to the resolution authorizing an SRO on campus, council members Michael Ballard, Ed Zipprich, Jacqueline Sturdivant and Angela Mirandi voted “No.” A final decision on whether an SRO will be assigned before schools reopen in September will be made at the next council meeting.
Equipping schools with threat assessment teams is intended to enhance the ability of districts and schools to help identify any risks before an act of violence occurs.
“We are not only first responders, we are first preventers,” said Laurie Doran, director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Student Privacy Policy Office (SPPO) website defines a threat assessment team as a group of officials who convene to identify, evaluate and address threats or potential threats to school security. Threat assessment teams review incidents of threatening behavior by students (current and former), parents, school employees or other individuals.
Children’s advocacy groups received this decision both with relief and caution. While threat assessment teams might reduce potential risks with early identification, children who are determined to be “threats” should be handled in a “nurturing way, not with force or aggression by law enforcement,” said Cathy Bolto, coordinator for Two River Friends of Diverse Learners, an open network of parents and community members serving students in the Two River area.
Bolto is a resident of Little Silver and has been actively engaged in the community for 20 years. While she agrees identification of students is a “great idea” because early intervention can prevent the “horror that we’ve had over the past several years – and especially in the last year or two – of school shootings,” she said threat assessment teams must consider involving the community and community health workers on these task forces, so it isn’t just a school labeling a child as bad or a threat.
According to the American Public Health Association, a community health worker is a trusted frontline public health professional who understands the community. The worker can act as a liaison between the public and any social programs available to them. A community health worker can perform outreach, community education, informal counseling, social support and advocacy.
Bolto suggested the inclusion of a professional community health worker as an objective third party who might offer a more refined understanding of issues impacting children than the school’s in-house team. She noted a school employee could need additional training or help to understand why a student or parent is acting a certain way, whether it is because of a disability or due to cultural differences.
This article originally appeared in the Aug. 18 – 24, 2022 print edition of The Two River Times and was updated online Aug. 22.
