Schools Adding Threat-Assessment Teams This Fall: What It Means For NJ

NEW JERSEY — A new state law meant to prevent targeted violence in schools goes into effect this fall. That's when each district will need a threat-assessment team to identify "students of concern."

The bill was introduced May 26 — two days after a gunman killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. The Democratic majorities in the State Legislature passed several laws since that restrict firearm use in New Jersey. But the measure requiring schools to establish a threat-assessment team received unanimous, bipartisan support last summer.

New Jersey's public, charter and renaissance schools will need threat-assessment teams by next school year, and many districts have taken steps to prepare.

The New Jersey Department of Education began virtual trainings in October, which will run through July 19. Meanwhile, the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office leads trainings for all 76 of the county's school districts through its STOP School Violence Initiative, which expanded through a federal grant.

Here's what you should know about the initiative.

What's the purpose of the teams?

The teams are charged with identifying students of concern, assessing their risk for engaging in violence or other harmful activities, and delivering intervention strategies to manage the risk of harm for students who pose a potential safety risk.

Who's on each team?

The law requires each team to include the following people, to the greatest extent possible:

• a school psychologist, counselor, social worker, or another school employee with expertise in student counseling
• a teacher
• a school principal or other senior school administrator
• a school-resource officer or employee who serves as the school liaison to law enforcement
• the school-safety specialist, if they're not already part of the aforementioned groups

Each team can add other school employees as members.

Who establishes each team?

Each school district's board of education and the board of trustees for each charter and renaissance school.

Although not in schools, the United States endured another series of mass shootings in recent days. Eleven people were killed and nine wounded Saturday during a Lunar New Year celebration at a dance studio in Monterey Park, California. The death toll reached seven people during a Monday mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, California, according to local authorities.

Thirty-nine U.S. mass shootings have occurred during the new year, including five incidents with at least five deaths, according to the Gun Violence Archive.