Families speak about violence and safety at meeting with Baltimore City School Board
BALTIMORE -- The Baltimore City School Board held a community forum at Edmondson Westside High School on Wednesday.
The board invited parents to talk about their concerns.
Two of the school's students have been murdered this year, making the violence plaguing young people in the city was one of the topics of discussion.
One grandmother was in tears at the forum. She said her granddaughter had witnessed fights and other violence at the school.
School officials have had three of these public sessions so far. They say the one on Wednesday night was the largest of the bunch.
The forum began with a moment of silence for 16-year-old Andres Moreno Jr., an Edmondson Westside High School student who was gunned down on Sunday.
Last month, five of the school's students were shot at a nearby strip mall while they were on their lunch break.
On that day, 16-year-old Deanta Dorsey died.
"I don't know what happened, what's going on, but it has to stop," Judy Bellamy said.
Bellamy is the grandparent of a Mervo High School student.
She said she is concerned about the number of students who have been shot in Baltimore this year.
So far, 15 teenagers have been shot in the city in 2023. Four of them have died from their injuries.
During the first week of school at Mervo High School, a student was shot. And just last week, police found a loaded gun on a student.
"Our kids they need to learn in order for them to make it, in order for them to survive," Bellamy said. "They can't do that if they're worried about whether they're going to be shot at school."