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Tenth-grader James Gripper of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn now makes sure he walks to the subway station with friends as he leaves school. That's because he was cornered and robbed for $20 back in November.

"I had nightmares about it, so I wasn't in school for the rest of the week," said Gripper.

Gripper is not alone. Many students say they fear coming to and from the Francis Scott Key School building on Willoughby Avenue in Clinton Hill, and about a half-dozen students have transferred out.

The nearest subway station, the Classon Avenue G train stop, is about a three-block walk that takes kids past the Lafayette Gardens Houses, where students say most of the violent incidents happen.

"On my way to the train station, I got into a little incident where they tried to jump us. We were fighting and stuff like that," said ninth-grader Kurtis Taylor.

"I actually like coming to this school but it bothers me now, because this is preventing me from coming to school and I have to worry about getting hurt or not. That shouldn't be," said 10th-grader Brandon Wilson.

On Tuesday, City Councilmember Letitia James and parents held a news conference in front of the school to demand that protections be put in place after violence came to a head on April 30.

"There was a big melee here. The students ran into the school, the assailants ran after them into the school," said James. "The safety officers tried to defend these children and protect the property of this school and they were assaulted."

James wants a safe passage created to and from public transportation, more surveillance cameras installed around the area and more coordination between the two local police precincts.

The closest stationhouse is the 88th Precinct, right across the street from the projects. But the school falls within the confines of the 79th Precinct, located about a mile away.

In addition to the problems outside, there are issues inside where five schools occupy the same building.

"Within the school there's been some tension, and so we support smaller learning environments but not all in one building," said James.

"I just want my son to be safe. I don't want to be a statistic - that I get a call that my son is the one something happened to," said parent John Robinson.

NYPD officials said when a crime is reported, officers from both precincts are dispatched. The department is also working on getting money for more surveillance cameras in the area.