The School Safety Community Advisory panel conducted its first round of community consultations on how to make GTA schools safer.
The panel, headed by prominent human rights lawyer Julian Falconer, will be meeting with representatives from various Toronto communities on Friday and Saturday to explore the issue of school safety.
Set up by the Toronto District School Board, the panel formed after the shooting death of 15-year-old Jordan Manners at C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute in northwestern Toronto in May.
Greg Stokes, Jordan's uncle, attended the public meeting on Friday.
"Unfortunately it took me losing my nephew to effectively say I have to get up and take a stand on this, Stokes told CTV News on Friday.
Stokes was joined by NDP MP Olivia Chow and Toronto student representatives in requesting year-round funding for youth programs.
This summer, the TDSB and the Toronto Catholic School Board received $4 million in funding to implement Focus on Youth -- a program designed to keep inner-city children off the streets during the summer months that has been wildly successful.
Chow says a one-off summer program is not enough for children in troubled neighbourhoods.
"There are hundreds of really successful programs like Focus on Youth and many others all across Canada, but you know, it's about to finish in two or three weeks. Then what happens during the school year? Nothing," Chow told CTV News.
All members of the public are welcome at the consultations that are being held at C.W. Jefferys school.
The school safety panel was given an operating budget of $500,000 to investigate safety throughout the GTA.
The panel will release an interim report due Aug. 22 with a final report due at the end of September.
With a report from CTV's Galit Solomon
