RALEIGH, N.C. — As of March 1, every single North Carolina Public School System should now have threat assessment teams in place. This comes after a new state law was passed aimed at improving school safety. 

What You Need To Know

  •  Threat assessment teams need to be enacted in schools by March 1

  •  Teams are comprised of people with expertise in many different areas

  •  These teams will work in both public and charter schools across the state 

  • Some N.C. schools already had threat assessment teams in place

These threat assessment teams can consist of a mix of people with expertise in counseling, teaching, school administration and even law enforcement. These teams will step in when they see that someone may cause harm to themselves or others, and then find the best path forward, whether that be contacting law enforcement, parents, or looking for mental health resources. These teams will work in both public and charter schools across the state. 

We caught up with some parents to get their take on these teams.

Wake County mom, Shawnonne Pickett, thinks it will be helpful so long as everyone is communicating.

“I’m hopeful because we are paying attention to the needs of what will help to keep our students safe,” Pickett said. “We would much rather us be active and proactive, but we are talking, we are learning, we are gathering information and looking to engage in another way to help keep our students, our schools our teachers, everyone safe.”

As a mother with children in the Wake County Public School System, Pickett knows how important safety is when it comes to kids. 

Every year, there are acts of violence in schools all across the country, Pickett said. She said when things happen in life, her and her husband choose to be the best examples for their kids, while leaning on their faith. 

“There are many and countless joyous times in life, but there are times when you wish the pain would hurry up, or that you could quickly get through them,” Pickett said. “But going through a test helps to build something in you. Having to endure those difficult times, those challenging times can bring out and let you notice that strength.”

Sarai Faison a parent in Durham Public Schools also weighed in on the new law. DPS is one of the many school systems that already have threat assessment teams in place. Faison said in theory the legislation requiring school threat assessment teams is logical, as it’s crucial to offer assistance to students who may be experiencing difficulties and could potentially pose a risk to the school environment. With that said, she does have concerns.

“Unfortunately, the new law does not provide additional funding for these teams,” Faison said. “Given the resource constraints in our schools, this could become yet another unfunded mandate that is challenging to implement effectively. I am curious about any changes that may be necessary or implemented due to the new law and hope that DPS will provide more information.”

In addition to reaching out to parents, Spectrum News 1 reached out to some school districts across the state to see how they prepared for these threat assessment teams becoming a requirement.

Wake County Public School System said, in part:

“WCPSS has a district-level committee that is currently working to enhance and strengthen protocols and procedures for threat assessment so that they are aligned with current research and best practices.”

Nash County Public Schools also weighed in on the topic. They developed a threat protocol in 2016. We’re told with this new guidance and research, they are enhancing what they already have, but on top of this Nash County Schools said building the culture within the schools is they key thing that needs to be done. 

“When I say building the culture, our adults developing those relationships with the students, students feel comfortable coming to the adults and saying hey I’m concerned about so and so or I’m concerned about myself so that we can get in and intervene early on,” Jeannie Kerr, Project Aware Director, said.

Over in Watauga County Schools, they are solidifying district-wide procedures for threat assessments and establishing mitigation factors and support services. As they work to implement the new guidance into their schools, the district said they have seen some challenges.

In a statement from the district, they said, they are acknowledging that timing is very critical for threat assessments so they ensure that issues are addressed in a timely manner. They add that at some of their smaller community schools they only have one administrator, counselor, etc., and threat assessments can take a significant amount of time, meaning those critical people are spending time investigating and reviewing a threat instead of completing other tasks.