District describes behavior-threat assessment teams, links records to Sentinel statewide system

District administrators described an expanded, standardized process for behavior threat assessment that leaders said is now required by state authorities and tied into a statewide record-exchange system.

At a strategic roundtable presentation, Miss Alvarado, an administrator leading the district—s safety work, said the district—s BTA practice was formalized after state guidance and now uses the Texas School Safety Center—s procedures. "Now it is required by state law and the Texas School Safety Center," Alvarado said.

The BTA teams: who and how they—re trained

Alvarado said the district has 37 trained team members, with two full BTA teams assigned to each campus and additional central-office staff available. "We currently have 37 members on teams that are trained fully in behavior threat assessment, and the training is not easy. It's an 8 hour situation by which they must test out given by the Texas School Safety Center," she said. Administrators said the training includes an eight-hour certification and a test given by the School Safety Center.

Assessment forms and timelines

Administrators told the board they now use the standardized forms prescribed statewide. Those forms gather demographic information, prior history and an initial screening that rates a threat as low, medium or high. Alvarado said the district can assemble a response team within 24 hours: "We can pull a team together in less than 24 hours," she said, and described a recent case where a team had reviewed data by 8 a.m. the morning after an incident.

Integration with Sentinel and record transfer

The district is uploading completed assessments to Sentinel so that receiving districts can see whether a BTA was done on a student who later enrolls elsewhere. "There—s a reason for that," Alvarado said. She described the Sentinel upload as a new step that took initial work to complete: "It took me an hour and a half to upload the system for the Sentinel, but the advantage to that is let's say that student was to move to another school district. With a push of a button, that receiving school district can ascertain if we ran a behavior threat assessment and if there's a possible threat going into their district."

Response and law enforcement

Administrators said imminent threats are handled immediately with 911 and law enforcement response; lesser-level concerns follow the BTA screening and recommended interventions such as counseling or monitoring. Alvarado said teams consult parents during the process and that evaluations can trigger law-enforcement follow-up when warranted.

Why this matters

District leaders emphasized the safety and continuity advantages of shared records and trained teams. They said Sentinel helps prevent information gaps when students move between districts, while the standardized forms and certified teams create uniform criteria for threat classification and subsequent actions.

Next steps

Administrators said they will continue to run BTAs, monitor the Sentinel uploads as its use expands and refine procedures based on early experience with the system.