Present law requires each LEA to adopt a policy to establish a threat assessment team develop comprehensive intervention-based approaches to prevent violence, manage reports of potential threats, and create a system that fosters a safe, supportive, and effective school environment. This bill specifies that public charter schools must also adopt a policy to establish a threat assessment team. This bill requires LEAs and public charter schools to: (1) Implement a computer-based system that teachers and school staff must use to input data of early warning signs demonstrated by students enrolled in the LEA or public charter school; and (2) Ensure that each teacher and school staff member is trained to identify early warning signs and on how to input data into the computer-based system This bill defines "early warning signs" to mean evidence of a student's safety, health, or behavioral issues. The full text of this bill specifies three components that the computer-based system must include, one of which is the ability to immediately notify the members of the LEA's or public charter school's threat assessment team when an early warning sign is entered into the system for a student. This bill requires members of a school threat assessment team who receive a notification of an early warning sign of a student to review the notification, and any notifications of the student previously received, and determine whether further action is needed to address the student's behavior of an early warning sign. This bill requires each LEA and public charter school to annually submit a report to the department of education summarizing the data collected in the immediately preceding school year and the interventions provided, if any. The reports will be subject to all relevant privacy laws. If the commissioner of education finds that an LEA or public charter school is not complying with this bill's requirements, then the commissioner will be authorized to withhold state funds, in an amount determined by the commissioner, from the LEA or public charter school until the LEA or public charter school is in compliance with this bill.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 49-6-2701, 49-6-2702(b), 49-6-2702