Rhode Island school threat assessment law

Do Rhode Island schools have to have threat assessment teams?

Yes, in public school districts. Each district superintendent must establish a threat assessment team for each school. Teams may be set up to serve schools as the superintendent decides. Each local school board or committee must adopt written threat assessment team policies consistent with the model policies developed by the state School Safety Committee. Each superintendent must also set up a district committee to oversee the district's teams; an existing district committee may serve. The team law, § 16-21-23.2, was created in 2019 and has not been amended since. H 5538 was enacted on July 15, 2019 as P.L. 2019, ch. 195, and its companion bill S 0818 was enacted the same day as ch. 260. The 2019 act took effect on passage.

Who must be on the team?

Each school's team must include staff with expertise in guidance, counseling, school administration, mental health and law enforcement. The district oversight committee must include members with the same five kinds of expertise. State guidance (not law) says threat assessments should be conducted by a multidisciplinary team of trained professionals. It also says a special education representative should be on the team when a student with a disability is involved.

What must the team do?

Each team must give students, faculty and staff guidance on recognizing threatening or aberrant (unusual and worrying) behavior. Each team must identify the members of the school community to whom threatening behavior should be reported. District policies must include procedures for referrals to community services or health care providers for evaluation or treatment when appropriate.

Is there a required model or process?

The School Safety Committee wrote "Threat Assessment Teams Implementation Guidance" (July 2019), which the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) hosts. The guidance says it offers model practices and procedures to help districts build their own teams and their own district-specific protocols. Its model protocol is based on the Comprehensive School Threat Assessment Guidelines (CSTAG). As of May 21, 2026, RIDE's Bullying & School Violence page listed this guidance as a related resource. The guidance lists reported or observed threats of violence as a trigger for starting the threat assessment protocol. It also lists reported or observed significant aberrant or worrisome behavior as a trigger.

What happens after a threat is found?

When a team makes a preliminary finding that a student poses a threat of violence or physical harm to self or others, it must immediately report that finding to the superintendent or designee. Notifying the parent is optional: the building administrator or designee may, if appropriate, try to notify the student's parent or guardian. The team process does not stop district staff from acting immediately on an imminent threat. Under the state guidance (not law), the administrator notifies local law enforcement when the individual being assessed appears to pose a clear and imminent threat of serious violence. The guidance says an Action and Support Plan should be developed for medium-level concern and when a high-concern student returns to school. Separately, district school safety plans must include policies for notifying the student or school employee who is the subject of a threat of violence or harm.

What about records and confidentiality?

Team members may not disclose information they obtain, or use an individual's records, beyond the purpose for which the information was given to the team. District school safety plans must include policies for sharing information about a student's conduct, including prior disciplinary records and history of violence, with classroom teachers, school staff and school security. The guidance says teams should document the behavior of concern, the inquiry and any actions taken, whatever the outcome. It says each school or district should keep threat assessment records in a central location, such as with an administrator or the team. It notes that threat assessment records may be protected from disclosure under federal and state law.

Must districts report to the state, and is there funding?

The team law sets no duty to report threat assessments or team data to the state; its only reporting duty runs from the team to the superintendent. The team law contains no appropriation or grant for threat assessment teams. The Basic Education Program rule's school safety planning section requires each LEA (local education agency, such as a school district) to carry out comprehensive school safety planning and develop emergency procedures, but does not mention threat assessment teams.

Who trains school staff?

The state School Safety Committee's duties include providing training to law enforcement, school administrators and teachers. The superintendent of the Rhode Island State Police, or a designee, chairs the committee.

Have there been recent changes?

In 2026 the legislature added a Rhode Island School Resource Officer Association representative to the School Safety Committee. That change came in H 7731 Substitute A, enacted June 19, 2026 as P.L. 2026, ch. 216. Its companion, S 2209 Substitute A, was enacted the same day as ch. 217 and made the same change.