Three Baltimore City schools implementing violence intervention programs

BALTIMORE -- Baltimore City Public Schools is working with the city to prevent violence in three of its schools.

Mayor Brandon Scott announced a partnership with the school district to establish school-based violence intervention pilot programs in Mergenthaler Vocational Technical High School, Carver Vocational Technical High School and Digital Harbor High School.

In the plan, school-based specialists will work with youth, school administrators and families to shift community norms about the acceptability of violence, create a positive school climate, strengthen youth's problem-solving and conflict management skills and strengthen students' academic performance.

This includes building interpersonal skills in communication, problem-solving, conflict resolution and management, empathy, emotional regulation management, and behavioral skills.

"Impactful and sustainable change begins with our young people. For the first time in Baltimore, we are meeting them where they are and integrating intervention methods into their daily lives," Mayor Scott said. "As leaders and educators, it is our responsibility to ensure that our young people have all of the tools they need to not just survive but thrive."

Criteria for identifying host schools were based on the number of arrests, diversions, and disciplinary actions as a result of violence, including suspensions of students, the availability of a restorative specialist, and the school's capacity to support a pilot program. 

Each school will employ three school-based violence interrupters who will be trained to mediate conflicts that could result in violent behavior.

A community-based organization will be selected to provide oversight of the program, along with the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE).

"Many of our students have unfortunately experienced more trauma than many adults have experienced in a lifetime, and we must recognize that this does not just go away once they enter the school building," said Director Shantay Jackson of the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement. "Giving them the tools to resolve their conflicts in ways that do not cause harm physically or emotionally are invaluable life skills that they can use daily. We are proud to partner with a school system that recognizes that the development and cultivation of emotional intelligence saves lives."

The school-based violence intervention staff members will provide support to students who are identified as being at a high-risk of participating in violence and partner with faculty to shift the cultural norms of violence and provide restorative practices to combat violent behavior through five intervention strategies including essential life skills training, conflict mediation training, academic remediation, emotional wellness.

In addition, eight student ambassadors per school will be selected to assist with program implementation and will also be connected to existing community violence intervention programming.

Student ambassadors will also receive weekly stipends for their participation. During the summer and
other school breaks, staff will continue engaging students and connect them with training, enrichment
activities, and mentoring.

The two-year school-based violence intervention program will begin during the spring semester of the 2022-
2023 school year.

"As a mother myself, as a graduate of Mervo, I have a deep understanding of wanting to make sure that when you drop your child off at that school door, that you don't have concerns there's going to be violence eruptions," Jackson said. 

A video has surfaced that shows a Mervo student being beaten Monday on his way home from school, which has caised parents to fear for their children's safety.

The video shows the student brutally beaten near a bus stop.

"I'm not bringing him to school tomorrow. There's no coming back to school," a mother told WJZ. 

Because of the video, the mother of a ninth-grade student is fearful of her child going back to Mervo.

"I don't feel like he's safe," the mother said. "There's no school police, there's no MTA police, there's no Baltimore City police that's located at this bus stop and this is where this young man has got hurt."

Combined, the three schools had 19 arrests for violence and 372 suspensions last year.

Jeremy Castillo, a student at Carver, said the fighting has become too much of a distract at the school.

"Sometimes it's hard just to go to class and focus on yourself because it might be a fight right in front of your class," Castillo said.

Castillo's principal is hoping this new program will help derail all of the violence. 

"Right now teenagers do have a lot of problems with conflict resolution so a program like this will help with that conflict resolution," Carver principal Shionta Somerville said. "We need extra hands. We need students to be advocates of each other."

Earlier this month, a parent was charged with assault after an incident with students at Mervo.

On Sept. 2, student Jonathan Brogden was shot and killed outside of Mervo during school release.

Last April, two students were stabbed on campus at Mervo. 

Last May, Jasmine Brunson, a Carver student, was killed after junior prom.