Published on: February 23, 2026
A Joint ATIXA/NABITA Tip of the Week by Linda Abbott, M.S., LMHC, and Kimberly Pacelli, J.D., M.Ed.
Creating safe, supportive K-12 schools requires intentional structures that protect students and employees while ensuring fairness, consistency, and effective interventions. Safety planning has a variety of applications in K-12 settings, including in addressing Title IX, civil rights, and Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) concerns.
Industry leaders ATIXA and NABITA recommend a coordinated, multidisciplinary approach to robust K-12 safety planning that is grounded in support, early assessment, clear communication, and well-documented procedures.
We recently explored this topic during a joint members-only Time with IX/Talking BITs event. Below are key takeaways and practical strategies drawn directly from that conversation to help you move from insight to action.
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Supportive Measures
Supportive measures should be the starting point for nearly all K-12 safety planning. These individualized services are meant to restore or preserve access to school programs without disciplinary intention. Schools can implement supportive measures proactively to stabilize situations, reduce potential escalation, or address immediate safety concerns. Options may include schedule changes, increased supervision, counseling referrals, no-contact directives, or temporary classroom or workplace adjustments.
In K-12 environments, supportive measures must match developmental needs. Younger students may benefit from additional adult check-ins, structured routines, predictable expectations, and close collaboration with caregivers. Older students may need assistance with boundary-setting, wellness support, or supervised transitions between classes. Schools should ensure these interventions do not inadvertently label students, disrupt learning unnecessarily, or produce outcomes that feel disciplinary without due process. Supportive measures may also be needed in workplace settings.
Consistent communication with families is essential. Parents and guardians should understand the purpose of these interventions and how schools will monitor them. Supportive measures should also be evaluated frequently, adjusted when needed, and documented clearly so that Title IX Coordinators and/or BTAM officials can monitor their efficacy and make modifications as needed.
Threat and Risk Assessments
Threat and risk assessments help schools to determine the level of concern associated with behavior and to identify what interventions are necessary to maintain safety. Well-structured assessments are behavioral and fact-based, seeking to determine whether the student or employee poses a threat, not merely whether they made a concerning statement or exhibited worrisome behavior. The goal is prevention through analysis of patterns, stressors, protective factors, and situational context.
K-12 teams should use research-informed models, such as NABITA’s K-12 Risk Rubric and NABITA’s K-12 Structured Interview for Violence Risk Assessment (SIVRA). Teams should encourage multidisciplinary participation from administrators, mental health professionals, classroom staff, Title IX personnel, and representatives from safety or security. Effective assessments avoid assumptions or judgments. Instead, they examine intent, capacity, and support needs using clear indicators to guide decision-making.
Monitoring and follow-up are crucial. Schools should create intervention plans based on assessment findings and track progress, re-evaluating risk as circumstances evolve. Cross-department communication ensures that no single staff member is left to interpret or respond to risk signals on their own.
Emergency Removal
Emergency removal of a student is a serious, temporary action used only when a student poses an immediate and significant threat to the physical safety of another individual or the school community, based on Title IX allegations. Because this step has implications under Title IX, decisions must be based on individualized safety determinations supported by objective evidence. Emergency removals should follow a preliminary assessment, not act as a default reaction to discomfort or uncertainty. Title IX Coordinators must ensure that other school officials understand that an emergency removal for a Title IX matter must follow the Title IX regulatory requirements, regardless of what the typical interim suspension process is in your jurisdiction. For emergency removal of an employee, the school has the flexibility to use its standard procedures for placing an employee on administrative leave, and a risk or threat assessment is a useful tool to introduce into those procedures.
Families should be informed promptly. The removal should last only as long as needed to resolve the emergency, and students must have an opportunity to challenge the action. Emergency removal should never substitute for supportive measures or longer-term safety planning.
Following removal, schools should reassess the situation, implement a reintegration plan if appropriate, and pair any return to campus with appropriate supports or restrictions. This approach maintains safety, continuity, and procedural fairness.
Collaboration Between Title IX, Student Services, and Threat Assessment Teams
K-12 safety planning is most effective when it is coordinated rather than siloed. Title IX teams, mental health staff, student services, administrators, IEP Teams, and threat assessment professionals often work with the same students but from different angles. Coordination reduces gaps, prevents conflicting directives, and supports consistent responses.
Schools should establish clear protocols describing when and how information flows between teams. For instance, a Title IX report involving harassment may include behavioral indicators relevant to threat assessment, or a threat assessment may identify supportive measures required for Title IX compliance. Early coordination ensures that legally required steps align with safety goals.
Consistent cross-training strengthens this collaboration. When each team understands the roles, limitations, and obligations of the others, decisions become more consistent, interventions align, and students experience a unified system instead of fragmented responses.
Classroom-Based Safety Provisions
Because classrooms are where most K-12 interactions occur, classroom-based provisions are central elements of safety plans. These may include adjusting seating, supervision, instructional grouping, voluntary course changes, movement patterns, or transition routines. These small changes often reduce risk by increasing predictability and minimizing opportunities for conflict or disruption.
Teachers and aides must understand the provisions they are expected to implement. While they may not need full details about why an intervention is in place, they do need clear direction on what to do, how to do it, and how to report concerns. Administrators should support teachers by ensuring feasibility and by removing unnecessary burdens when a provision needs modification.
Teams should check in regularly to confirm that classroom-based measures are appropriate, effective, and not creating unintended consequences. When implemented well, these provisions preserve educational access while adding structure and protection.
Documentation and Workflows
Strong documentation is the backbone of effective and legally sound safety planning. Each supportive measure, assessment, decision, and communication should be documented in a consistent format so teams can track implementation and identify patterns. Good documentation also helps districts demonstrate compliance with Title IX, Title VI, IDEA, Section 504, and related requirements.
Clear workflows are equally important. Staff members need predictable steps to report concerns, initiate assessments, determine risk, implement supportive measures, and evaluate emergency removal when necessary. Clear roles and timelines prevent confusion and reduce reliance on individual interpretations.
Documentation systems should be secure and accessible only to those with a need to know. Reliable records enhance collaboration, support accurate decision-making, and provide a history when questions arise months or years later.
Train with ATIXA and NABITA
Develop the skills and tools to create high-quality documentation by enrolling in NABITA’s BIT and Case Management Recordkeeping and Documentation Workshop.
Build confidence in K-12 safety planning in ATIXA’s Title IX Coordinator Foundations Level Two: Notice, Initial Assessment, and Resolution Process for K-12 Education, as well as in NABITA’s K-12 Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management Standards and Best Practices and Building an Individualized K-12 Threat Management Plan.