Despite the violence and fear gripping her district, St. Paul Superintendent Valeria Silva declared on Tuesday that “our schools are not out of control.”

Silva sought to reassure the school board, district staff and community by announcing a new initiative to “improve school climate and safety,” according to the St. Paul Pioneer Press.

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But her effort, launched with the aid of stickers and jackets saying “Safe Schools. Safe You,” appears to be less than what the school board demanded several weeks ago, when it instructed Silva to develop a comprehensive plan to address school safety.

Instead, the Pioneer Press reports that Silva “would rather let schools test some ideas and see what works.”

Silva will send as many as 50 district administrators and “specially assigned” teachers to spend parts of their days in 11 schools “to help with whatever instructional and behavioral problems the principals think need attention,” the Pioneer Press reported.

The role of the administrators and extra teachers will apparently depend on the perceived needs in each building. They may be asked to assist with instruction in classrooms, supervise students in hallways and lunch rooms, or both, according to a report from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

The district has added a new function to its smart phone app, allowing users to submit anonymous safety tips, the Pioneer Press reported.

Administrators will also attempt to gain more background information about new students, and will launch an after-school program for students who have received “fighting-related suspension,” according to the Star Tribune.

News reports did not mention any plan to add trained security personnel to any of the schools.

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“I want to focus now in those schools and not rush into a humongous plan,” the superintendent was quoted as saying at a school board meeting Tuesday. “Our schools are not out of control. Some of our buildings are facing increasing challenges, and we have plans to address those.”

That statement was made against a backdrop of violence that has been plaguing the district for several years, and reached a boiling point in recent months.

In one week in October, several teachers were injured when trying to stop an outbreak of fights between students, a student was found with a gun in his backpack, and a student was tased by a school resource officer after disrupting a classroom and repeatedly refusing to leave.

The situation boiled over last month, when a 16-year-old student assaulted and severely injured a high school teacher who was trying to break up a fight. The teacher has since filed a lawsuit against the district, claiming it failed to provide a secure environment.

The St. Paul teachers union reacted to that incident by suggesting it may strike if administrators fail to improve safety for teachers and other staff members.

Last week a former St. Paul middle school teacher also filed a lawsuit against the district, claiming she was “punched, kicked and kneed by students on several occasions and endured regular verbal harassment that was vulgar and sexual in nature,” according to TwinCities.com.

The teacher said her repeated complaints to the school principal were met with hostility, and she was finally fired after she walked out of her classroom in fear.

One St. Paul teacher was recently quoted across the nation after she anonymously told a St. Paul columnist that “we’re afraid.”

Many tie the situation to the district’s consulting relationship with the Pacific Educational Group, a radical San Francisco company that contracts with public schools around the nation to address “white privilege.”

PEG officials believe most schools are operated for the primary benefit of white students, based on white cultural norms. As a result, they believe black and other minority students are shortchanged.

According to media reports and statements from various teachers, PEG played a leading role in the development and implementation of a more relaxed disciplinary approach toward black students in St. Paul, with an emphasis on reducing the number of suspensions.

Many say that new approach has led to increasing student violence, because students know that there will be no serious consequences for their actions.