BATON ROUGE - On Friday, Superintendent Lamont Cole said that after more than 100 days since he took over as superintendent, the district has a long way to go.

"Our families should never fear their children being in our presence, and we've had some challenges lately as it relates to safety and the first thing we have to do is acknowledge the challenges," Cole said.

Cole may have been referring to instances like a recent fight between two pre-kindergarteners which two teachers reportedly watched without intervening. Those teachers were placed on leave and the district is investigating after video of the fight surfaced online.

Guns have also been found on several campuses, in one instance, a student hid a gun in the cushion of a wheelchair and brought it to Woodlawn High.

Cole said he believes the school system can turn things around.

"We have a direction, and a focus, and we have the intentional audacity to believe in our students and we're going to dare them to be great," Cole said.

He shared some highlights of his strategic plan. To improve student achievement he said he is planning high-dosage tutoring and establishing programs that will allow students to finish high school with trade credentials that will help them start careers.

He and Metro Councilman Cleve Dunn have spent this first portion of the school year talking to students and faculty, learning about what can be done to make the schools great again. 

He hopes to raise the performance of schools currently rated as ‘D’ or ‘F.’

"The Baton Rouge Parish School System has been identified as a 'C' district for far too long. We know our students and our teachers and our leaders can do better," Cole said.

After recent discussion and media coverage of blighted properties owned by the school system, Cole said some things will be fixed, but difficult conversations about the facilities are coming. 

"We're not perfect, we do have challenges, we have areas we need to address, there are things in the school system that need to be re-established, there are things that need to be broken down and rebuilt but we are prepared to do the work," Cole said.

A community meeting to discuss closing some schools and moving their students to other campuses is set for March 12th.