Vermont school threat assessment law

Do Vermont schools have to have threat assessment teams?

Yes, through a required policy. Each school district and each approved or recognized independent school "shall develop, adopt, and ensure implementation of a policy and procedures for use of behavioral threat assessment teams" at least as comprehensive as the Secretary of Education's model. Districts and independent schools had to implement comprehensive behavioral threat assessment and management programs by October 1, 2025, which includes adopting a BTA team policy. A board or independent school that does not adopt its own policy is presumed to have adopted the Secretary's most current model policy. The statute's policy duty does not say whether teams sit at the district or building level, does not list required members, and does not name charter schools. Vermont law defines behavioral threat assessment as a fact-based, systematic process to identify, gather information about, assess and manage dangerous or violent situations.

What must the state's model policy cover?

The Secretary of Education must develop, and update from time to time, a model BTA team policy and procedures. The model must set the criteria for assessing a student's threatening behavior, the process for reporting it, and students' civil rights and due process protections. It must address the support resources to be made available, including mental health first aid, counseling and safety plans. It must require contacting law enforcement in cases of imminent danger. The Agency of Education (AOE) issued the model policy on September 12, 2025, and its model procedures follow the NTAC model. The Vermont School Safety Center must issue guidance on BTA team best practices.

Who is on the team?

The statute's policy duty does not list required members. Under AOE's model procedures, the superintendent or head of school names one team member as the standing coordinator and leader. For a student with a disability, the model procedures call for a special education teacher on the team or consultation with an expert. AOE guidance lists mental health professionals and an SRO (school resource officer) or school safety professional among typical team roles.

What training is required?

Each supervisory union, supervisory district and approved or recognized independent school must make sure team members get training at least once a year in BTA best practices, plus bias training. AOE, working with the Department of Public Safety, must develop guidance and resources for that training. AOE says it offers annual training that meets the legal requirement, but that trainings are limited by funding. AOE guidance says members must be trained before they begin assessment work.

What limits apply after an assessment?

The legislature intends that BTA teams not lead to more school exclusion or unnecessary referrals to the criminal justice and school discipline systems. Assessments must be set up to keep contact with the criminal justice system to a minimum. A law enforcement referral may be appropriate only when a case involves a threat, never for conduct-code violations that are not also crimes. Any team recommendation that could remove a student from school must follow existing student-discipline law, including 16 V.S.A. § 1162. Under AOE's model procedures, when the team decides a student poses a threat of violence, it makes notifications as appropriate to the student's parents and to any targets, in consultation with legal counsel.

What happens to threat assessment records?

Under AOE's model policy, each team member acts as a FERPA (federal student privacy law) "school official with a legitimate educational interest." The model procedures say team members may not use or re-disclose student records beyond the team's purpose except as FERPA allows. They also say BTA records are not academic records under the state's Education Quality Standards. AOE guidance says FERPA allows BTA information to be shared when a student applies to enroll in or transfers to another school, where there is a clear need to know.

What must be reported to the state?

Each supervisory union, supervisory district and approved or recognized independent school must report data every year to AOE on the completion and outcomes of all BTAs and manifestation determination reviews. The report must list team members' names and say whether law enforcement was involved in each assessment. That reporting subsection takes effect July 1, 2027. Meanwhile, AOE reduced its 2025-26 BTA data set to minimum, foundational data, with the form due June 30, 2026.

Is there state funding?

Act 29's only funding mention required AOE to report on any grants or funding secured for BTA teams; the act made no appropriation.

When did the law pass, and what changed recently?

Section 1485 was added by Act 29 of 2023 (S.138), signed May 30, 2023, and amended by Act 72 of 2025 (H.480), signed June 27, 2025. As first enacted, Act 29 set July 1, 2025 for districts and independent schools not already using teams to establish one. Act 72 made the policy duty effective October 1, 2025 and the data reporting duty effective July 1, 2027. Act 72 is the only 2025-2026 act the legislature lists as affecting § 1485. The 2026 education omnibus (Act 160, H.931), effective July 1, 2026, does not change threat assessment law.