Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon met with more than 150 education, community and elected leaders to discuss school violence and brainstorm solutions at City Hall Wednesday night.

After Dixon laid out the ground rules, principals, teachers, parents and union officials took turns at the microphone for two hours offering insights into the ongoing safety issues inside and outside of Baltimore schools. Dixon listened, as did school board members, police Commissioner Leonard Hamm, state Sen. Verna Jones, City Councilman Bernard ‘Jack’ Young, state Del. Melvin Stukes — and city schools CEO Charlene Cooper Boston. When Boston raised her hand to speak at the start of the meeting, Dixon told her, “you have to listen first, the schools are part of the problem.”

Furman Templeton Elementary Principal Evelyn Randall offered the most dramatic new testimony about the violence that often flows from the communities into the schools.

“We had someone threaten our crossing guard — put a gun to the head and told her not be on this corner when he comes back,” Randall recounted. “That was at 7:30 am. Needless to say, we never saw her again.”

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Randall also told of a parent who walked into a classroom at the Edison charter school and threatened an instructional assistant and of another parent who threatened an instructor.

“It’s difficult to keep teachers in my building because they don’t feel safe,” said Randall, adding that the school system needs to consider putting uniformed school police officers in elementary schools, not just middle and high schools.

School board Chairman Brian Morris said after the meeting that an additional $12 million has been directed toward school safety in the system’s budget this year, some of which will go toward the hiring of an additional 25-30 uniformed school police officers. The school system now employs 100 sworn police officers and 100 school resource officers and hall monitors.

rcassie@baltimoreexaminer.com