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Putnam County portal, triage teams and SROs: district emphasizes threat assessment, treatment pathways and communications
Summary
Officials described pctam.net adoption, multidisciplinary triage teams that prioritize treatment over arrest in many cases, roles of SROs/SPOs, reunification procedures and cybersecurity steps to protect student data.
Putnam County and district officials used the symposium to explain how threat reports will be handled, how school-based law-enforcement roles fit into support models, and how the district is improving communications and data protections.
Sarah Serbadillo described the county's pctam.net portal—created after Governor Kathy Hochul's Executive Order 18 (2022)—as an online threat-assessment tool that allows anonymous reporting and routes tips to a core Threat Assessment Team (TAM) that includes the district attorney, BOCES, the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, mental-health and social services, emergency services and probation. "We are immediately looking into this and investigating it," Serbadillo said, adding the county has averaged about "55 reports since October '23" and that a high percentage were mental-health related.
Sheriff Kevin McConnell said triage teams are multidisciplinary and focus on pathways to treatment rather than automatic arrest when behaviors indicate mental-health needs. "Our goal is not to arrest everyone ... to develop a pathway for treatment to an individual that has shown concerning behavior," McConnell said. He said the county meets biweekly to review cases and revises action plans when necessary.
Sergeant Alfred Pizzuto described SROs (full deputies stationed in schools) and SPOs (vetted retired officers working part time) and emphasized relationship-building: "They're here to help me," he said of officers working in schools, adding that officers often serve as classroom instructors, counselors and trusted adults in the school fabric.
Frank Gugliari of BOCES explained regional crisis teams and the "Handle With Care" notifications used to alert schools that a student was present at a law-enforcement call so staff can provide discreet support. He also reviewed reunification logistics, noting a full-school reunification event can take about five hours because of traffic, verification and staged pick-ups; he urged families to keep Infinite Campus contact information current.
Benjamin August warned that expanding digital systems bring cybersecurity risks and stressed the district requires strong, legally binding vendor guarantees around data protection. He recommended password hygiene and use of password managers and said the district monitors network activity to quarantine suspicious account behavior.
Officials closed by saying the district will publicize pctam.net links and 988 resources on school websites, continue training for triage teams and administrators, and maintain coordination with county partners on funding and program implementation.
