Pennsylvania school threat assessment law

Do Pennsylvania schools have to have threat assessment teams?

Yes, for public school entities. Every Pennsylvania school entity must establish at least one threat assessment team. A "school entity" means a school district, intermediate unit, area career and technical school, charter school, regional charter school or cyber charter school. The team section has applied since the 2021-2022 school year. One team may serve one or more schools within a school entity. A school entity may meet the requirement by giving the duties to an existing team. Article XIII-E (Threat Assessment) was added to the Public School Code on June 28, 2019, by Act 18 of 2019. The Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) states that Article XIII-E requires threat assessment teams for all school entities.

Who must be on the team?

The chief school administrator (the superintendent or charter school leader) or a designee appoints team members and names a team leader. Each team must include staff with expertise in school health; counseling, school psychology or social work; special education; and school administration. Each team must include the school safety and security coordinator or a designee. School security personnel, law enforcement and behavioral health professionals may serve as regular members or be consulted, as the team decides. The staff member who receives Safe2Say Something reports (the state's anonymous tip line) may also serve on or be consulted by the team. Act 47 of 2025 added a member of a local or county threat assessment team, if there is one, to that list.

What training is required?

The chief school administrator or designee must arrange annual training opportunities for team members during paid working hours or as in-service training. That training must be consistent with nationally recognized best practices, and may be group or individual training. Team training must cover member responsibilities, the threat assessment process, including avoiding racial, cultural or disability bias, and confidentiality requirements. The state School Safety and Security Committee must provide a model training program for team members that school entities and team members may use and adapt. School employee training under the School Code must cover recognizing student behavior that may indicate a threat.

What must the team do?

Teams must help assess and respond to Safe2Say Something reports. Teams must assess and respond to reports of students showing self-harm or suicide risk factors or warning signs. Each team must make age-appropriate materials available to students on recognizing threatening or at-risk behavior and how to report concerns, including through Safe2Say Something. Each team must make informational materials on the same topics available to school employees. Each team must make sure school employees know who is on the team and how to report threatening or at-risk behavior. Each year students, employees and parents must be told the team exists and what it does, and this must be posted on the school entity's website.

Is there a required model or process?

The School Safety and Security Committee must develop model procedures and guidelines, which school entities may choose to use. The model procedures and guidelines must be posted on PCCD's website. PCCD publishes the Model K-12 Threat Assessment Procedures & Guidelines, 3rd Edition (2024).

What happens after a threat is found?

After a preliminary finding that a student's behavior may indicate a threat, the team must immediately notify the chief school administrator, the building principal and the safety coordinator. The principal must then immediately notify the student's parent. After notifying the parent, the team may refer the student to a student assistance program or a law enforcement agency, among other options. Parental consent is required before a team refers a student to a behavioral service provider, health care provider or county agency. Imminent threats and emergencies must be promptly reported to law enforcement. Teams must set protocols for timely consultation with law enforcement, juvenile justice, county agencies and health or behavioral providers to refer students. The school's memorandum of understanding with law enforcement must include a procedure for coordination between the threat assessment team and law enforcement, if necessary.

What about records and confidentiality?

To the extent federal law permits, teams have access to student records, including health records and prior disciplinary records. A team may ask the county agency or juvenile probation department to cooperate, and it must comply except where listed confidentiality laws bar it. Team members may not share records further or use them beyond the purpose they were disclosed for. Team records are exempt from the Right-to-Know Law (Pennsylvania's public records law). When a student transfers to another school entity or a nonpublic school, a certified copy of the student's disciplinary record must be sent to the new school; this is the general School Code transfer rule, not one written for threat assessment. The sending school has 10 days from the new school's request to send it, and the rule also covers transfers between schools in the same school entity.

What must be reported to the board and the state?

Each year the chief school administrator must present a report on the entity's approach to threat assessment to the board in executive session (a closed meeting). The report goes to the state committee through the safety coordinator's report and must include compliance verification and the number and makeup of teams. It must also include the total number of threats assessed in the school entity. Each year the chief school administrator or designee must also present to the board, in executive session, a summary of work with outside law enforcement, juvenile probation and behavioral service providers, an assessment of how the teams operate, and recommendations for improving the process. The rules for both board presentations were last amended by Act 55 of 2022 (July 8, 2022). School entities need not report any other data on team functioning beyond what Article XIII-E requires. The School Safety and Security Committee must review school entity threat assessment reports each year.

Is there funding for threat assessment?

The School Safety and Security Grant Program lists implementing Article XIII-E (threat assessment) as a grant purpose. Targeted grants to school entities and nonpublic schools must fund programs that address school violence and school mental health, and eligible uses include any use allowed under that main grant program. Act 20 of 2026 lets the committee authorize up to $8,300,000 of unspent fund money for training, including for threat assessment teams, and for technical assistance.

Have there been recent changes or bills?

Act 47 of 2025 was enacted from SB 315 on November 12, 2025. It amended the threat assessment article's definitions, team section and guidelines section. Act 20 of 2026 was enacted from HB 1505 on July 12, 2026. SB 930 of 2025 would further amend the threat assessment definitions, team section and guidelines section. As of October 28, 2026, SB 930 is still in the Senate Education Committee; its last action was referral on July 10, 2025. Pending HB 2873 would require each school entity's nondiscrimination awareness and prevention policy to include intervention procedures that set up and maintain a behavior threat assessment process. HB 2873's last action was referral to the House Education Committee on October 21, 2026.