Halfway house going to be opened beside Toronto elementary school

A Halfway House  is an institution that allows people with physical, mental, and emotional disabilities, or those with criminal backgrounds, to learn (or relearn) the necessary skills to re-integrate into society.

A federal halfway house set to open right beside St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School in Toronto. Parents of students at a Toronto Catholic elementary school say they've taken a back after learning a halfway house for federal penitentiary inmates is about to open right beside their school.

About a dozen inmates will soon be housed on the second floor of the facility on Eglinton Avenue West overlooking St. Thomas Aquinas Elementary School.

Dexter Costales,said parents should have been consulted — or at least notified by the city, the school board or corrections officials.He added, "When it comes to safety, kids should be the priority in our community and I think information and talking to the parents would be very, very important."

John Yan, a spokesperson for Toronto Catholic District School Board, confirmed with CBC News: "This is something this particular school community may not have known about."

The halfway house will be operated by the John Howard Society of the Toronto (JHST).