Ohio School Safety Center Releases Threat Assessment Model Policy

The Ohio School Safety Center (OSSC) has partnered with the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Attorney General's Office to develop a model threat assessment policy for schools to use in their emergency management plans.

HB 123 requires each school building administrator to incorporate a school threat assessment plan and protocol for their building’s threat assessment team. Schools may adopt the model policy or they may use the model policy as a guideline to create their own.

The policy may be found on the OSSC webpage here. Schools may also reach out to the OSSC at ohioschoolsafetycenter@dps.ohio.gov to request a copy of the model policy. 

Threat Assessment Team Requirements

HB 123 requires each local, city, exempted village, and joint vocational school district to create a threat assessment team for each school building in the district serving grades six through 12. Each team shall be multidisciplinary, when possible, and may include school administrators, mental health professionals, school resource officers, and other necessary personnel.

**Please note, if a school building has a similarly constituted safety team, that team also may serve as the threat assessment team, provided that the team and each member comply with the requirements of this legislation.**

The deadline to implement these teams is March 24, 2023. 

Threat Assessment Team Training Requirements

Upon appointment and once every three years thereafter, each team member shall complete an approved threat assessment training program.

If members of the team have completed a training program any time after March 24, 2019, that was later approved by the OSSC, this can qualify as the initial training required under this legislation. Any new members of the team are required to complete an approved training program upon appointment.

Completion Certificate

Upon completion of each threat assessment team member’s training (every three years) each district building is required to submit proof of completion of an approved training program with their building’s emergency management plan.

Approved Training Programs

The Ohio School Safety Center has reviewed and approved trainings for compliance with statutory requirements (evidence based and curriculum) listed in HB 123. 

The list of approved trainings can be found on the OSSC webpage at the following link: Approved Threat Assessment Trainings