A task force headed by Ontario MPP Liz Sandals has held the first of six public meetings looking into the province's controversial Safe Schools Act in Ottawa. The act was passed by the legislature in 2000, under the previous Conservative government. It was implemented in September 2001 and gave principals and teachers more authority to suspend and expel students. In a report released Tuesday, the Ontario Human Rights Commission found that the act and school-board policies are having a disproportionate impact on minority students, particularly black students, and students with disabilities. The commission says the Education Ministry and school boards are sending two contradictory messages to school administrators and the general public. As a result, while some administrators may apply mitigating factors when they make decisions, others may practise "zero tolerance." "A practice of zero tolerance inevitably conflicts with anti-discrimination legislation, particularly if it targets disability-related behaviour," the commission says. It is the apparent lack of flexibility in the act that brought students, parents and educators together to meet MPP Sandals on Monday night. Ottawa resident Wali Fatah says he wasn't happy when his eight-year-old son was suspended for "playing rough" with another boy. But, Fatah says, he understands that, under the Safe Schools Act, the principal who issued the suspension had no choice. "That's what he had to do, and that's what this act does. You know, the principals feel that they have to, you know, take action." Fatah says the act can be especially tough on immigrant students who may not understand the rules and find themselves suspended or even expelled for behaviour they consider justifiable. "There aren't a lot of options out there for us right now," says Susan Gardener, a guidance counsellor with the Ottawa District School Board. "I think, with some extra funding and some extra programs put in place, that we'd probably be able to do better than we're doing right now, for sure." Sandals says the act's lack of nuance has emerged as the top complaint among students, parents and educators. "Is it appropriate that expulsion is always mandatory, or should we be looking at a range of options for principals?" The challenge, says Sandals, is making sure loosening the rules doesn't compromise safety in the classroom.