Kentucky school threat assessment team law

Do Kentucky schools have to have threat assessment teams?

Yes, at the school level: each district's school safety coordinator must designate a school safety and security threat assessment team at each school in the district. The duty to designate the teams sits with the district's school safety coordinator. Starting with the 2019-2020 school year, each local school district superintendent must appoint a district school safety coordinator. Each team is made up of two or more staff members and works under policies and procedures the local board of education adopts.

Who serves on the team?

Team members may include school administrators, school counselors, school resource officers, school-based mental health services providers, teachers and other school staff. That list is allowed, not required: the law does not demand any particular role.

What does the team do?

The team's job is to identify and respond to students whose behavior indicates a potential threat to school safety or security. The response follows the local board's policies and procedures, and the law's immunity provision covers identifying the student and carrying out that response. A Kentucky Department of Education (KDE) guidance page points districts to the National Threat Assessment Center's resources for threat assessment in schools.

Must staff report threats?

Any school employee who knows or has reasonable cause to believe that a person has made threats or plans of violence targeting a school or students must immediately cause a report to be made. That reporting section, KRS 158.155, was amended by 2026 Ky. Acts ch. 50, effective July 15, 2026.

What happens to a student who makes threats?

Under 2026 Senate Bill 101, each local board must adopt a policy of expulsion for at least twelve months for a student the board finds, by clear and convincing evidence, made threats that endanger students, faculty or staff.

What training is required?

The district school safety coordinator must complete the Center for School Safety's coordinator training within six months of appointment. The Center for School Safety must develop that training with the Kentucky Department of Education. The coordinator training must cover identifying and responding to threats to school safety and security. The required school resource officer curriculum includes threat assessment and response.

What about records and reporting to the state?

The team provision itself, KRS 158.4412(2)(b), sets no rule on keeping threat assessment records confidential, sharing them, retaining them or transferring them. The same provision sets no duty to report team activity, cases or data to the state. When a student enrolls in a new school, KDE must forward the student's records collected under KRS 159.170, including expulsion entries, to the receiving district within ten working days.

When did the law take effect, and has it changed?

The team law, KRS 158.4412, was created by 2019 Ky. Acts ch. 5 (Senate Bill 1, an act relating to school safety), effective March 11, 2019. The 2019 enacted text already contained the duty to designate a threat assessment team at each school. It was amended effective February 21, 2020 and again effective July 15, 2024. It was not amended in 2025 or 2026: the current version took effect July 15, 2024.