Strengthening Threat Assessment: How Belonging, Discipline, and MTSS Build the Trust It Depends On

Webinar

Strengthening Threat Assessment: How Belonging, Discipline, and MTSS Build the Trust It Depends On

📆 August 25, 2026

Threat assessment teams and protocols only work when students trust the adults around them enough to come forward in the first place. This session explores what makes threat assessment actually work — the conditions of belonging, fair discipline, restorative practices, and MTSS integration that determine whether concerns get reported at all.

Michelle Sheane, Assistant Superintendent of Student Services at Springs Charter Schools, will share:

Her district's Chain of Trust framework and KEEP Plan model — a restorative alternative to expulsion that keeps students connected rather than excluded.
How Springs Charter uses CSTAG and suicide prevention within this larger system of trust and support.

Essie Sutton, Ph.D., Director of Learning Science at Branching Minds, will connect these practices to the research on why threat assessment and suicide risk screening should live inside MTSS rather than run in parallel, and what it takes to align a district's initiatives so they reinforce, rather than undercut, one another.

Attendees will leave with a practical framework for evaluating whether their own discipline, belonging, and safety efforts are strengthening their threat assessment process — or working against it.

Michelle Sheane

Assistant Superintendent, Student Services, Springs Charter Schools

Michelle Sheane is the Assistant Superintendent of Student Services at Springs Charter Schools, where she leads initiatives focused on student engagement, attendance, and support services. She brings over two decades of educational leadership experience, including roles as a district coordinator, principal, assistant principal, and classroom teacher across multiple California school systems. In addition to her work at Springs, she currently serves as the CASCWA State Secretary. Michelle holds a Master’s degree in Cross-Cultural Education from National University and a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from California State University, Long Beach. She’s also a certified CSTAG trainer, training under the creator of CSTAG, Dr. Dewey Cornell.

Essie Sutton, Ph.D.

Director of Learning Science, Branching Minds

Dr. Essie Sutton is the Director of Learning Science at Branching Minds, where she helps translate research and best practices in Multi-Tiered Systems of Support (MTSS) into practical tools and guidance for K–12 educators. With a Ph.D. in Applied Developmental Psychology, her work focuses on using research, data, and learning science to strengthen MTSS implementation, support effective decision-making, and improve outcomes for students.

Strengthening Threat Assessment: How Belonging, Discipline, and MTSS Build the Trust It Depends On

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Meet the Presenters

Michelle Sheane

Essie Sutton, Ph.D.