ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The U.S. Secret Service is sharing insight on new programs to keep students safe in school. The agency says majority of public schools in America now have a threat assessment program designed to catch warning signs before tragedies like school shootings.
Florida made Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) teams mandatory for public and charter schools last year. At the beginning of this school year, Florida implemented a threat management portal for electronic reporting and maintain assessment records.
The question now — are those teams working as intended?
The study by the United States Secret Service’s National Threat Assessment Center is the first of its kind to dive into how these programs are being implemented and what school officials are saying about them.The majority of principals surveyed say this is making schools safer, and it’s now becoming a cornerstone of school safety efforts.
“Are American schools safer because of these programs?,” WFTV asked.
“Absolutely. These programs, if they’re used the way they’re intended to be used, and if they’re used around the country, give schools a tool they’ve never had before — a tool to really look at these behaviors,” said retired Secret Service agent Donald Mihalek.
Mihalek says many schools started using BTAM programs after the 2018 Parkland shooting to identify, assess, and manage potential threats.He says the Secret Service began using a similar framework to identify assassins back in the 1990s.
“The Secret Service looked at those behaviors and said, ‘wait a second — let’s look at school shooters and see if there’s a tie between how assassins’ function and how school shooters function,” Mihalek said.
Out of more than 1,700 principals surveyed, roughly 88 percent say these models are effective at maintaining — and in some cases, improving — school safety. 70 percent say the BTAM teams have improved school climate. The programs focus on the most severe and high-risk cases of student behavior.
“If a child is drawing a gun, if the child keeps talking about violent behavior, if the child keeps saying things that are concerning, that’s a red flag that needs to be looked at by both the family and the professionals involved in that student’s life,” Mihalek said.
Majority of principles surveyed reported decreased school violence and self-harm.
Most schools reported using tailored interventions like mental health counseling rather than suspension or expulsion.
“In most of these cases, when the kids are exhibiting these concerning behaviors, it’s essentially a cry for help,” Mihalek said.
The study did say that in order for these programs to be effective, there needs to be consistent funding, comprehensive training, and for schools to share best practices. At this point, not all schools have one uniform model but variations.
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