BAKER  - Students, parents and faculty at Baker High School met Tuesday evening to discuss youth violence and changes being implemented in the school district.

"Have there been fights? Five [this school year]. Now, from my understanding, there were an estimated five fights a week before we came. So, what we've done is pour in and curtail some of that negative behavior," Baker High School Principal Alisa Welsh said.

Those with the City of Baker School District said they wanted to hear from students and parents to see where they can improve.

"They've probably reduced fights at Baker High School, I'm going to take a guess by 75 percent," Superintendent JT Stroder said. "It's quite a reduction."

Baker High educators described Tuesday's meeting as a climate check to give parents the opportunity to learn about what's changed in the past few months with Baker High School.

Ratosha Claiborne was a parent at the meeting. She said her son is a junior and this year was much different than last year.

"With this being his third year, I've noticed that he is more enthusiastic about going to school; he actually likes being at school," Claiborne said.

Educators said more cameras, collecting phones, screening students and addressing students' social and emotional concerns were included in the list of changes made to Baker High.

"Create a sense of family and belonging. If you know anything about teenagers, you know they want to belong to something," Welsh said.

While these measures may change students' behaviors on campus, Stroder said, there must be support from the community to make the change permanent.

"That starts at home, that starts in the community, that occurs on social media, right? Those are the things that, if we really want to change, have to be done."

The next meeting is scheduled for December 11.