CINCINNATI — A new Cincinnati Public School policy will create a team to identify school threats and take appropriate action.
"I felt it was important just because of the sheer amount of threats that are occurring across the country," said Mike Moroski, a board member at Cincinnati Public Schools. "This is not anything that's unique to Cincinnati Public."
The concept is not unique. All public schools in Ohio serving grades 6-12 will soon be required to have threat assessment teams, as a result of House Bill 123. The bill was signed by the governor in 2020.
"[Behavioral threat assessment has] been around for a while," said Mo Canady, Executive Director of the National Association of School Resource Officers. "But I think we're hearing more about it as we have come out of the pandemic."
The new "threat assessment team" at Cincinnati Public Schools will include various members of the school community, including teachers, administrators, counselors and school resource officers. Training will be required. The team will use a behavioral-based approach to identify individuals who display concerning behavior.
"More designed to offset that stuff even happening, which is what ideally, all good policy would do," Moroski said.
Moroski said those behaviors might include antisocial behavior, passing notes that outline threats or posting threats on social media.
"We want to be able to get those kids the help they need," he said.
The policy notes the approach does not tolerate profiling of any kind. Moroski said the district will examine trends in data to ensure it is not happening.
It also says the threat assessment process is distinct from student discipline procedures.
"The mere fact that the District is conducting a threat assessment does not by itself necessitate student discipline, such as expulsion, suspension, or emergency removal," the policy reads.
Cincinnati Public Schools policy creating 'threat assessment team' by WCPO 9 News on Scribd
The policy says district personnel are able to act immediately to address imminent threats, including removing a student if there is "sufficient cause to believe that a student’s presence poses an immediate and continuing danger to other students or school personnel."
Students will also be subject to searches by metal detectors or on a random basis if there’s reasonable suspicion raised by a school administrator or security officer. This is consistent with district policy.
WCPO asked Canady to take a look at the new CPS policy.
"This is really a team concept," he said. "This is a great opportunity to be proactive when we're dealing with these types of situations, and really take some time to discuss it among one another, really look at the facts, and then figure out the best route to start with."
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