Student Behavioural and Digital Threat Assessment – Fair Notice

School District #19 (Revelstoke) is committed to creating and maintaining school environments in which students, staff, parents/guardians/caregivers, and others feel safe. Schools cannot ignore any threat of violence.

What behaviours warrant a Student Behavioural and Digital Threat Assessment to be initiated?

Assessment will be initiated when behaviours include, but are not limited to:
  • Serious violence or a threat of serious violence
  • Verbal, written, or online threats
  • Possession of weapons (including replicas), bomb threats, and fire setting

Duty to Report

To keep school communities safe and caring, staff, parents, students, and community members must report all threat-related behaviours.

What is a threat?

  • An expression of intent to do harm or act out violently against someone or something.
  • May be verbal, written, drawn, posted on the internet, or made by a gesture.

What is a Threat Assessment Team?

Each school will have a multi-disciplinary team that may include: District Safer Schools Coordinator, Principal/ Vice-Principal, Counsellor(s), Teacher(s), Indigenous Support Staff, RCMP, MCFD.

What is the purpose of a student threat assessment?

Threat assessments are:
  • To ensure the safety of students, staff, parents, and others,
  • To ensure a full understanding of the context of the threat,
  • To understand factors contributing to the threat-makers behaviour,
  • To be proactive in developing an intervention plan that addresses the emotional and physical safety of the threat maker,
  • To promote the emotional and physical safety of all.

What happens in a student threat assessment?

All threat-related behaviour by a student shall be reported to the principal, who will activate the threat assessment process. Interviews will be held with the student(s), the threat-maker, parents, and staff to determine the level of risk and develop an appropriate response to the incident. Intervention plans will then be developed to mitigate further risk.

Collection Notice and Privacy Laws

The school district is subject to personal information privacy laws and will undertake the collection of this information in compliance with the requirements of such laws, including by limiting collection to information that is relevant and necessary to address a risk or threat and by ensuring that information is collected from publicly available open-source social media sites. The school district will not collect information as part of a threat assessment unless there is reason to believe that a risk exists. Information collected as part of a threat assessment may be provided to law enforcement authorities in appropriate circumstances.