If you work in a Georgia school district right now, chances are "behavioral threat assessment" has come up in leadership conversations. And if your district is still figuring out what that means in practice — you are not alone.
We recently sat down with Steven Hornyak, Chief Innovation Officer at Houston County School District, to discuss what House Bill 268 is actually asking of districts, why prevention is harder to operationalize than most expect, and what infrastructure needs to be in place before the deadlines hit.
Here's a summary of the key themes from our conversation.
What HB268 Is Actually Asking
Georgia's House Bill 268 — the Ricky & Alyssa Law — introduces formal Behavioral Threat Assessment and Management (BTAM) requirements as a mandate, not a recommendation. Two deadlines frame the urgency:
- July 1, 2026: Districts must have updated safety plans with named BTAM teams and documented protocols.
- January 1, 2027: The full preventative approach must be operational, with mental health at the center of the threat assessment process.
This is a meaningful shift. School safety has largely operated as a reactive system: something happens, a team convenes, documentation follows. HB268 asks districts to prove they are prepared — before anything happens.
The Identification Gap
There are students in every school who are suffering in silence — students who haven't externalized their struggles into observable behavior. They may never get into a fight or visit the principal's office. Without a system designed to find them, they remain invisible.
Teachers can observe externalizing behaviors. What they cannot observe is internalized distress. If districts aren't asking students directly — through structured, anonymous self-report screeners — they are, as Steven puts it, "operating blind in one of the most critical domains."
Research consistently shows that students in grades 6 through 12 do self-report honestly on anonymous surveys. That data is there to be gathered. The question is whether districts have the infrastructure to gather it, interpret it, and act on it consistently.
Why Prevention Is Harder Than Reaction
Reaction is event-driven. Prevention is system-driven.
A reactive system only activates when something goes wrong. A preventative system requires infrastructure functioning even when everything appears fine — because students who need support most may not be visible until it is too late.
Most districts have tried something: a paper screener administered once a year, a spreadsheet the counselor manages, a referral process that depends on a teacher noticing something is wrong. Those efforts reflect real intent. But they share the same failure modes — inconsistent administration, siloed data, no clear escalation path, no documentation trail.
HB268 requires a system that works the same way every time, for every student, regardless of which building they're in or which counselor is on duty. That's a higher bar than most existing approaches can clear.
Introducing FOCUS
After years of working with screeners that were too clinical, too paper-heavy, and too disconnected from existing workflows, Steven helped develop FOCUS — Factors of Concern, Understanding, and Safety — in partnership with Standard Education.
FOCUS is an adaptive, digital behavior screener built specifically for K–12:
- Adaptive by design. If a student's response indicates self-harm or violent ideation, FOCUS routes them into a sub-survey without them knowing their responses triggered escalation.
- Immediate flagging. Any at-risk response triggers a local protocol and escalates the student to the BTAM team.
- Traffic signal risk levels. High-risk results prompt counselor outreach to the student and parents within 48 hours — documented, every time.
- Workflow integration. Data flows directly into district dashboards and to counselors, administrators, and BTAM team members.
Data without a documented response pathway increases exposure. What protects districts is consistent, documented action — and that is what FOCUS is built to support.
The Funding Question
Districts don't have to fund this alone. Several programs are designed specifically for school safety and mental health infrastructure:
- Georgia's School Safety Grant Program — state funding administered through GEMA/HS applicable toward compliance infrastructure including behavioral screening tools.
- STOP School Violence Act grants — federal funding through the Bureau of Justice Assistance for threat assessment training, technology, and prevention programs.
- SAMHSA Mental Health in Schools grants — support districts building identification and response systems. Current opportunities at SAMHSA.gov.
- Title IV-A (Student Support and Academic Enrichment) — funds most districts already receive that can be applied to school safety and mental health activities with no separate application required.
Your state education agency's grants office is a good first call to identify which programs your district qualifies for.
The Bottom Line
Every district we talk to cares deeply about student safety. FOCUS and HB268 give districts the framework to show it. The time to build that system is before the deadline — not after a crisis tests whether it exists.
Watch the full conversation with Steven Hornyak →
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Georgia's House Bill 268, also known as the Ricky & Alyssa Law?
HB268 requires Georgia school districts to implement structured BTAM processes, shifting school safety from reactive incident response to proactive, prevention-focused systems. Districts must establish BTAM teams, update safety plans, and implement behavioral screening protocols.
What are the HB268 compliance deadlines?
By July 1, 2026, districts must have updated safety plans with named BTAM teams and documented protocols. By January 1, 2027, the full preventative approach must be operational with mental health at the center of the threat assessment process.
What is the "identification gap" and why does it matter?
The identification gap refers to students experiencing internalized distress that never surfaces as observable behavior. Without proactive screening, these students remain invisible until a crisis occurs. Anonymous self-report screeners are the most effective way to find them.
What is FOCUS and how does it help districts meet HB268 requirements?
FOCUS — Factors of Concern, Understanding, and Safety — is an adaptive digital behavior screener developed by Standard Education. It routes at-risk students into deeper assessment automatically, generates real-time flags, and feeds directly into the BTAM workflow — turning data into the documented, consistent action HB268 requires.
Is there funding available to help districts implement HB268?
Yes. Options include Georgia's School Safety Grant Program, federal STOP School Violence Act grants, SAMHSA mental health grants, and Title IV-A funds most districts already receive. Contact your state education agency's grants office to identify what your district qualifies for.