Baltimore City Schools Reopened Wednesday
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- Violence and looting forced city school leaders to shut down classes and lock doors. On Wednesday, the district welcomed student back to class.
Gigi Barnett has more on the decision and the message school CEO had for students when they returned.
"The things that the police do to us, we don't get justice for. It's things that the police do and get away with that we still don't get justice for," said one student.
This is an open and honest discussion with Baltimore's top school leader Gregory Thornton.
On the day students returned back to class after a one-day hiatus, they unleashed feelings of fear and frustration.
"I just didn't like it. We're messing up our own city."
This is the calm after Frederick Douglass High students clashed with city officers Monday, mere hours after the funeral of 25-year-old Freddie Gray. They hurled bricks and rocks, injuring police.
"I was just puzzled by it all because I never thought it would expand to that level," said Deasia Ellis, Frederick Douglass High student.
And city school CEO Gregory Thornton says he wants to hear more.
"What I'm trying to ascertain is how they're feeling," he said.
He toured Frederick Douglass High School Wednesday, looking for feedback from students.
Thornton has company in his quest to engage students:
"I want our kids to have a better understanding of what's happening on television and hear from them," said Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake.
The mayor visited the New Song Center to talk with the city's youngest students.
"I got to see the real pain that our kids are experiencing because they just can't understand why people who claim to love our community would destroy it," she said.
Thornton says, for students who weren't involved in the melee with police, he's proud of them.
But for those spotted on video leaving class early to bout it out with officers, he says punishment is on the way.