The Wake County Public School System is updating its threat assessment policies — part of an effort by state lawmakers to identify signs of things such as possible self-harm and bullying.
Teams assessed 1,751 such threats last school year. That’s flat compared to the previous year on a per-pupil basis.
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This year, the state began requiring public schools to have threat assessment teams. Most — 1,129 — were at elementary schools.
Wake County has had them for three years now, but is making some changes to comply with the new state law.
That includes updating training requirements, reporting data to the state, details on how to start an assessment and placing more information on how it conducts the assessments in its policy.
When reports of threats are made, the assessment teams investigate. It’s unclear what the outcome of those reports are. Schools haven’t reported data on that.
Statewide data on anonymous tips shows most tips concern suicidal behavior. That’s followed by bullying and drug use.
Wake County is now using an anonymous reporting app for safety concerns, though tips don't have to come in that way.
The school board’s policy committee debated just a couple of aspects of the policy Wednesday, namely over language around how quickly families should be notified that their child was being assessed for a threat.
District officials had written “as soon as practicable,” and board members felt like the language needed to be more immediate. They agreed on “as soon as possible,” with board members emphasizing that a team responding to an immediate threat can still ask a school administrator to call the parents.
The policy changes will go before the full board later this year and will need to approve the revised policy at two separate meetings before it becomes final. However, district officials said they are already working to comply with the new state law.