School Board Safety Advisory Panel To Look Into School Where Jordan Manners Was Shot
Posted June 5, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
When 15-year-old Jordan Manners was shot dead inside C.W. Jefferys Collegiate Institute almost two weeks ago, the shock and concern wasn’t limited to his family, peers and surrounding community.
The incident sent waves of fear through much of the city and especially the school system, where questions about safety and security inside all of the city’s public institutions leapt to front and centre.
And that’s why Tuesday, the Toronto District School Board announced that Julian Falconer (right), a well-known human rights lawyer, will chair a safety advisory panel for the board, the first task of which will be an internal review of C.W. Jefferys before the shooting.
“We are not here to conduct a criminal investigation,” said TDSB Director of Education Gerry Connelly (left). “This is a distinct, internal review and the person who is leading this … is not being retained by us as a lawyer.”
Falconer was legal council to the Urban Alliance on Race Relations and just completed work on the Dudley George inquiry. The reports will be public, and Falconer’s expected to report back to school officials by July 16.
The report will be public and focus on three things: The practices and procedures regulating student supervision, discipline and building safety over the past two years, whether other factors affected the school’s ability to maintain student order and how student supervision, discipline and security can be improved across the board.
“The safety of our children, the safety of our community’s children, there is no greater priority for any of us,” Falconer said. “The death of Jordan Manners represents a tragedy but also, potentially an opportunity to fix what is wrong.
“There’s no question it’s a daunting task.”
Complicating things further is pressure applied by Manners’ family, specifically his mother, Lorainne Small, who blames the TDSB in part for her son’s death. “The District School Board has to be held accountable for what happened to my son,” Small said.
It won’t be a simple process, but according to TDSB officials, it’s an invaluable one.
“It’s only when you identify the problems accurately that you have any chance at bringing about the accurate kind of changes,” said TDSB Chair Sheila Ward (centre).
For more on the safety panel, visit CityNews Education Specialist Cynthia Mulligan‘s blog by clicking here.
