The newly formed Baltimore City school police community advisory committee met last week at the school system?s administrative offices on North Avenue to introduce its board members and initiate discussion with parents, teachers and students concerned about school safety.
When city schools Police Chief Antonio Williams took over in November, he recognized a glaring gap between his department and the schools and people it serves.
“We just needed more collaboration with the community ? that was my idea ? and I spoke to school board member George Van Hook about how to get started,” Williams said.
“We put out our first notice to the public in March, and then we began searching for a board.”
Eric White of the Baltimore Council of PTAs was named board chairman. He told the 40 or 50 concerned residents in attendance that the group?s mission “is to bring together the collective voices of students, families and community leaders to create a safer and more supportive learning environment and implement practices, policies necessary to do that.”
Therest of the community advisory board members are: the Rev. Benjamin Barnwell Sr., Academy of Success; Marvin Briscoe, 100 Black Men of Baltimore; Michael Carter, Parent Community Advisory Board; Patricia Cook-Ferguson, Baltimore Teachers Union; Dr. Philip Leaf, Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health; Patricia Miller, Baltimore City States Attorney?s Office; and Barbara Pryor, principal, Curtis Bay Elementary School.
Ten parents and teachers ? as well as two Diggs-Johnson Middle School students ? addressed the board after an overview of the committee and its goals.
Both middle school boys talked about their personal experiences with bullying and school violence.
Tamantha Woods, a former teacher and mother with three children who have been in city schools, said it was “disheartening to hear another teacher say ?bathroom duty isn?t in my contract? after my 9-year-old son was beaten up in a stall.”
A local representative from Big Brothers Big Sisters offered support. Another attendee suggested greater emphasis on conflict resolution training for teachers and peer mediation for students.
The meeting was a first step in what Van Hook and Williams hope will be an ongoing process.
