Shari-Ann Selvey wiped away tears at the beginning of a Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board meeting Monday evening.

Selvey, mother of Devan Bracci-Selvey, the 14-year-old stabbed to death outside Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School on Oct. 7, was among 60 community members attending the meeting during which trustees voted unanimously on forming an independent review panel looking at bullying in schools.

The panel, led by three yet-to-be-nammed community members, will seek input and provide recommendations from the school community, staff and public about bullying. The review will be fourfold in scope, looking at bullying prevention, intervention, reporting and responding.

Speaking before the meeting, Selvey, who witnessed her son’s stabbing, she said she wasn’t informed of the meeting by the board but by Keven Ellis, the head of a local child rights organization.

The only communication she’s had with the board was a condolence card, which she said she ripped up.

At the meeting, board chair Alex Johnstone directly addressed Devan’s killing which she called a “senseless act of violence.” She said the board’s thoughts are with the Bracci-Selvey family.

“What happened concerns us deeply,” she said.

Selvey held her hand to her face and cried into a tissue.

Selvey has previously said her son was relentlessly bullied, that she’d reported it to the school and that “everyone” failed him.

It remains unclear if bullying played a role in Devan’s death. Police have said they are considering bullying as they complete their investigation.

A 14-year-old and an 18-year-old have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with his death.

At the meeting, Johnstone said the board needed to do better to address bullying.

“We know that we need to do more to protect our students and to support them,” she said. “We know that we need our community to work with us to combat bullying and its horrific ramifications.”

The panel is separate from an investigation into the stabbing incident at Sir Winston Churchill, which a third party will oversee once the criminal investigation is completed by police.

Director of education Manny Figueiredo said the board has not yet been determined who the third party will be.

The panel will share its recommendations with the board no later than May 31, 2020.

Johnstone said the board will “absolutely” commit to implementing all recommendations the panel produces.

Figueiredo said the final report “should” be public.

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After the meeting, Keven Ellis, who sat next to Selvey throughout the meeting, said she’d been “terrified” to come but she wanted answers about what can be done to prevent another tragedy like her son’s death.

She left the meeting upset.

“She feels as if nothing is going to happen,” he said.