A 4805: Directs school districts to establish school threat assessment teams and implement plans to intervene where a student exhibits behavior indicating an intent to harm themselves or others and to address underlying needs of the student.

  
  STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 4805 2025-2026 Regular Sessions  IN ASSEMBLY February 6, 2025 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. RAJKUMAR -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Education AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to school threat assess- ment teams The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 2803 2 to read as follows: 3 § 2803. School threat assessment teams. 1. The board of education or 4 trustees, as defined in section two of this chapter, of every school 5 district within the state, however created, and every board of cooper- 6 ative educational services and county vocational education and extension 7 board and the chancellor of the city school district of the city of New 8 York shall establish a school threat assessment team to perform the 9 functions set forth in this section. 10 2. For the purposes of this section: 11 (a) "Safety threat" means actions, statements, or a pattern of behav- 12 ior by a student indicating intent to physically harm another student, 13 anyone employed in the school, any member of the general public, or 14 themself. 15 (b) "Safety threat plan" is a comprehensive intervention to manage a 16 safety threat posed by a student by addressing underlying needs, such as 17 through mental health treatment, as well as conflict resolution, while 18 avoiding any disruption in the student's schooling. 19 (c) "School threat assessment plan" means a step-by-step guide of 20 procedures for school employees in conjunction with a school threat 21 assessment team on: 22 (i) identifying students whose behavior indicates a safety threat that 23 should be referred to the school threat assessment team; 24 (ii) gathering detailed data on the safety threat; EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [ ] is old law to be omitted. LBD08572-01-5 
 A. 4805 2 1 (iii) referring students who may present a safety threat to the school 2 threat assessment team; 3 (iv) evaluation by the school threat assessment team of the credibili- 4 ty of a safety threat, based on available information, including if the 5 student has ready access to firearms or other weapons; 6 (v) warning students, their parents or guardians, or other intended 7 victims of credible safety threats; 8 (vi) developing a safety threat plan for the student; 9 (vii) monitoring the implementation of the safety threat plan, evalu- 10 ating the need for any modification, and maintaining contact with the 11 student; and 12 (viii) referring cases to law enforcement or filing an application for 13 an extreme risk protection order under article sixty-three-A of the 14 civil practice law and rules. 15 3. (a) A school threat assessment team shall be a multidisciplinary 16 team with expertise in guidance counseling, school administration, 17 mental health, and school safety that is tasked with evaluating students 18 at risk of committing a safety threat and providing supportive services 19 to those students. This team is focused on remedying underlying issues 20 that impel a student to commit a safety threat, as opposed to rendering 21 disciplinary actions, and shall only refer a student to law enforcement 22 as a last resort. 23 (b) The school threat assessment team shall: 24 (i) implement a comprehensive school threat assessment plan based on 25 the guidelines developed by the department. Such plan shall be submitted 26 to the department for approval, provided that prior to approval, a 27 school district may implement its school threat assessment plan in the 28 interim. Where the department recommends modification of a school's 29 plan the school district shall revise and resubmit the plan for 30 approval; 31 (ii) train school personnel, as well as educate students and their 32 parents or guardians, to identify, respond to, and report safety threats 33 or behaviors indicative thereof; 34 (iii) increase education of students and their parents or guardians on 35 mental health issues; and 36 (iv) gather data on outcomes. 37 (c) Referral to the school threat assessment team shall not be grounds 38 for suspension or expulsion of any student. 39 (d) Nothing in this section shall preclude school personnel or law 40 enforcement from responding immediately to an imminent safety threat. 41 (e) At the end of each school year, each school threat assessment team 42 shall report data to the department. 43 § 2. No later than one year after the effective date of this act, the 44 department of education shall develop a model evidence-based threat 45 assessment plan. No later than the beginning of the first school year 46 that falls one year after the publication of the model school threat 47 assessment plan by the department, each school district shall form one 48 or more school threat assessment teams. 49 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.