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Ann Arbor Public Schools

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AAPS Threat Assessment Protocol

The Ann Arbor Public Schools is dedicated to student and school safety. School safety is a critical priority and fundamental value in AAPS. As part of this commitment, AAPS takes very seriously threats made to a student, staff member or a school. A safe learning environment allows for the critical mission of teaching, learning and student achievement.

All schools in AAPS have trained threat assessment teams who use a specific tool to fully investigate the threat and take action to ensure the protection of students, staff and schools.

Please know that the threat assessment protocol is confidential to those involved and, while we will not be able to share specific information, we will share what we can to ensure all students and staff are safe. We will not hesitate to take action, which may include emergency removal of a student, and closing of a school if the threat contains specific information.

We look to our students and families to partner with us when they learn of a statement, social media post or other information that threatens our school community. Students, please share this information with a parent/guardian or trusted adult, or contact:

Threat Assessments Steps

When district staff learn of a threat, immediate action is taken:

  1. Investigation begins to determine origin of threat

  2. A Comprehensive School Threat Assessment (CSTAG) is conducted that will determine if the threat is transient or substantive. The threat assessment helps to determine next steps.

  3. Local law enforcement is notified if the assessment is substantive.

Please know that it is district protocol to put the student who is identified as making the threat on emergency removal while the investigation is completed and may result in further time out of school depending on the outcome of the investigation. Parents will be asked about means, if a threat involves any type of weapon and police will follow up. Child Protective Services (CPS) may also be called depending on the situation.

AAPS works closely with local law enforcement, including the Ann Arbor Police, Pittsfield Township Public Safety and the Washtenaw County Sheriff's Department. Local law enforcement will be contacted and a police report will be made. It is highly likely that law enforcement will begin their own investigation of the threat. It is a felony under Michigan Law to make a threat to schools - http://legislature.mi.gov/doc.aspx?mcl-750-235b .

All AAPS schools follow these protocols. Our trained threat assessment teams work diligently through the night and over the weekend to determine the threat origin to resolve the situation. An emphasis is made to help the student who has made the threat with both support and minimize the use of disciplinary action, when warranted.

We ask the AAPS community of students and parents to work with us to partner in creating a school culture of safety. Jokes of threats, emails, social media posts, statements made in anger or figures of speech without intent to do harm will be revealed through the threat assessment process, but we urge students to think before they make these kinds of threats because it will be taken seriously and fully investigated.

Thank you for your partnership with AAPS in developing and ensuring a culture of safety in our schools.