English was one of many who were shocked that a 13-year-old boy would attempt rape. "I'm just floored that it even comes across your mind at 13," she said. "You ought to be thinking about playing baseball or football. It is just really disturbing that this even happened."
Jimmy Gittings, president of the union representing city school administrators, said the attack demonstrates how hard it is for schools to control students' violent behavior. "If it's not controlled at home, it's certainly not going to be controlled in the community, and how in God's name do you expect us to control it in the schools?" he asked.
According to Goodwin, a group of Calverton staff members was working on Sunday when two boys broke in through a classroom window on the Braddish Avenue side of the large building, which houses an elementary school and a middle school that recently merged into one.
While one of the boys rummaged through the building, the other attacked the staff member in an office, Goodwin said. But the woman was able to fight him off and sustained only minor physical injuries. She called police as soon as the boys had fled the building, around 3:30 p.m.
Police were able to identify the suspects on a surveillance camera at the school. They were being detained at the Baltimore City Juvenile Justice Center. Even though police say only one of the boys was involved in the physical attack, both were charged with attempted rape.
Parents picking up their children at Calverton yesterday afternoon had not heard anything about the incident.
"I have to find out more about it," said Helen Clemens, who has a nephew in the seventh grade. "I should be aware of what is going on if something like that is going on."
Lakeshia Johnson, whose daughter is in the eighth grade, gasped when told what happened. "I can't wait to get my child away from this environment," she said. "I'm just disgusted. I don't like that. I'm really upset about that. It is ridiculous; it doesn't make any sense at all."
Some parents said children at the school can be unruly. Brenda Stewart said she started escorting her children home from the school a few months ago after they were jumped by a group of other children. "These kids, they are so disrespectful," she said. "You can't put everything on the school system, you really can't."
Mayor Sheila Dixon was briefed about the alleged crime Monday, said Sterling Clifford, a City Hall spokesman. "Youth violence is of great concern to the mayor," he said.
But Clifford said there are limitations to what the city can do: "We can't say, `Here's the new policy.' We can't say, `Here is the new deployment policy for police in the schools.' ... What we can do is work with the school system and offer any assistance that they are asking for."
Clifford, who is also the spokesman for the city's Police Department, said city detectives helped school police interview the boys.
sara.neufeld@baltsun.com annie.linskey@baltsun.com
