Threat assessment is becoming a crucial part of school districts all across the state of Texas.  A threat assessment is a fact-based investigative approach to determining how likely a person is to carry out an act of violence. It is needed not only to defend against potential threats, but it is a great proactive approach against potential threats in the future. It can be used as a tool to recognize when a student may be suffering from traumas such as abuse, neglect, bullying, or even contemplating self-harm. These acts towards a student are what lead to possible conflicts and threats inside of schools. 

Threat assessment will be carried out by a Threat Assessment Committee which is a selected group of professionals, officials, school staff members, law enforcement, and everyday citizens. Committee goals, as of now, are to:

• Grasp a better understanding as a committee about threat assessment and how we can utilize it,
• Determine how we as a committee will be able to impact the district and community with our efforts in eliminating the percentage of threats,
• Determine how we can take our knowledge and spread it into our schools and help our students increase their knowledge of threat assessment,
• Help our students and parents involved in the district understand that they have a voice and will be aided when needed. 

The overall goal is to help the district and community understand that actions are and will be taking place to improve school safety.  Growing our knowledge on what threat assessment is and how it can be utilized to the advantage and improvement of BSISD is also essential to this program. We will be using the Texas School Safety Center (TSSC) as a resource. Here, information can be found and used to help grasp a better understanding of threat assessment is as well.

To ensure wellness, learning, and physical and psychological safety across the learning community, an integrated approach is essential to promote a comprehensive and aligned Safe and Supportive School Program (SSSP).

The SSSP is a systemic and coordinated multitiered support system that addresses school climate, the social and emotional domain, and behavioral and mental health and wellness; it includes collaboration with community, county, and state organizations; conducting behavioral threat assessments; and the implementation of a multi-hazard approach to prevent, prepare for, respond to, and recover from crisis situations.

Big Spring ISD is committed to ensuring the education and safety of our students and staff, and an important part of this is by ensuring that our campuses are secured and our students and staff feel safe while they are at school. BSISD utilizes the Threat Assessment teams to help address school climate as well as the emotional and behavioral health of its students and staff.