Beverly Delosreyes only made it halfway through a parent council meeting at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School before she gave up and left.

"We're asking them: 'Is there a guarantee that our kids will be safe?'" Delosreyes said. "They can't answer."

Delosreyes posed that question to representatives from the John Howard Society, which is opening a halfway house just steps away from the school within the next two months.

Beverly Delosreyes has a daughter in kindergarten at St. Thomas Aquinas. (Spencer Gallichan-Lowe/CBC News)

Sonya Spencer is the executive director of the John Howard Society, which operates out of a building on Eglinton Avenue West near Dufferin Street.

"I cannot guarantee, I cannot be responsible for an individual's behaviour in the future," Spencer said. "What I can guarantee is that we have a very thorough assessment process, that we have strict criteria, that we evaluate when somebody applies to our residence.

"So that I can guarantee."

Sonya Spencer is the executive director of the John Howard Society. (Spencer Gallichan-Lowe/CBC News)

Ten convicted criminals who have been granted day parole will be moving into the facility as early as December. They will be housed on the second floor of the building that overlooks the school. Their crimes were deemed serious enough that they were handed prison sentences ranging from two years to life.

Filomena Bilotta has two children that go to St. Thomas Aquinas. She can't understand why they would put inmates so close to children.

St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School is just steps away from a halfway house that could open as early as December. (Spencer Gallichan-Lowe/CBC News)

"We worry about that. Who's going to be looking at our kids, who's going to be walking by, who's going to be close by?" Bilotta said.

Inside the meeting, many parents raised concerns about the possibility of sex offenders taking up residence at the John Howard Society. Spencer assured them that would never be an issue.

"We have very much heard from them that they do not want anyone here that has in any way harmed a child," Spencer said.

"We have absolutely committed to that."

Parents aren't the only ones concerned about this halfway house. A group of residents who live in the neighbourhood also showed up for the meeting, but they were turned away at the door.

Don Greene said a flyer was delivered to his house encouraging him to attend. The flyer claimed it was a public meeting.

"We arrived here on time, 6 o'clock, and we were told it was only for people that had kids here," Greene said.

Many residents say they recieved this flyer encouraging them to come to a public meeting at St. Thomas Aquinas elementary school.

Officials from the school said only people with children enrolled in the school are allowed to attend parent council meetings.

Eventually, representatives from the John Howard Society went out to talk to the residents who had gathered outside the school. They agreed to organize a public meeting sometime in the near future to address their concerns, as well.

Green said he wants to know why this wasn't made public sooner.

"They should have made the area more aware of what they were doing," Greene said.

Many residents and parents said they didn't know about the halfway house until they read about it in an article that was posted to the CBC Toronto website earlier this month.

Spencer said the John Howard Society has always followed proper protocol. The organization purchased the building back in 2013, and the following year held an open house, welcoming any and all questions from residents, she said.

"I'm not certain that there is anything that I can say that is going to make them feel better," Spencer said. "What I can tell them is that we will operate this program with a high level of integrity."