A City Council member’s email to other officials regarding two potential ordinances for consideration – both related to the role of police in the city’s schools – created a stir on social media late last week.

Ward 2 Councilwoman Aniece Germain said she has since decided against pursuing either of the proposals, and that “it was in no way my intention to mitigate the important work” of school resource officers. Instead, she said, she hoped to initiate a dialogue regarding police in school settings and bring to light concerns among citizens that “we overly criminalize childhood misconduct.”

But she is also pushing back against what she characterizes as a politically motivated breach of trust.

“I ran for office in the first place to work with members of our community to find common solutions to our problems that incorporate all sides’ perspectives in developing those solutions,” Germain said in a statement. “I hope we are able to work past this misunderstanding and break in trust and resolve as a council body to find the common solutions the people of Cranston are calling for.”

According to Germain’s account of events, the situation stems from an Aug. 18 email she sent to the members of the council, the city solicitor, the council’s legal adviser and the city clerk’s office.

That email, or a version of it, was subsequently circulated on Facebook. The message posted to the social media site suggests the consideration of ordinances that would bar admittance of police officers into schools “as employees on duty” and the reallocation of any funding for such officers into “resources for students and professional development for teachers.” It also invites other council members to co-sponsor the ordinances.

No such ordinances were introduced as new business during Monday’s City Council meeting.

While Germain’s statement indicates the social media version of the email had been “edited,” it confirms the content of the message: “The first [ordinance proposal] would ensure police officers were not deployed within our schools, and the second would allocate resources to support mental health counselors in the Cranston school system. These proposals were born out of a sincere concern I have heard from many parents of children in our school system, students, and alumni who are concerned we overly criminalize childhood misconduct, rather than addressing the underlying social and emotional issues many of Cranston children experience that may lead to misconduct.”

Germain – a Democrat who was recently appointed to fill the Ward 2 seat vacated by Paul McAuley’s resignation and is facing Republican Zac Sailer as she seeks a full term in November – said in her statement she is “disappointed that a misunderstanding of the correct process for initiating a dialogue on my part has been distorted by political opponents into political mudslinging.”

“I would call upon my colleagues on the council to conduct themselves with a basic measure of respect and confidentiality for personal emails on nascent matters,” her statement reads. “An edited version of my email has been circulated on social media and was shared not to inform people of this issue or advance the conversation, but instead, it has been used as a political attack. Taking advantage of a newcomer’s naivete of the ordinance-making process is not a very honorable thing for a member of our policy-making body to do, and I would ask that if fellow councilors have concerns with my policy proposals they speak to me directly about the substance of what they see as wrong with the proposals, rather than sharing private emails in public forums to exacerbate political divisions in our community.”

It continues: “It is clear that despite the legitimate concerns of parents and students, many are deeply concerned about the potential loss of our School Resource Officer (SROs) … This entire experience has been one of learning for me. I recognize that though it was solely my intention to start a conversation about greater investment in school mental health resources, there are much more efficient avenues for us to achieve these supports in our schools that will not draw needed resources from our SROs. I want to affirm my deep thanks and appreciation for the work both our School Resource Officers do every day to keep our schools safe.”

Germain’s statement also states her intention that “all conversations regarding proposals for expanded resources such as mental health services in schools are done in partnership with our Cranston police department moving forward."

Prior to Germain’s statement, Sailer, Republican mayoral candidate Citywide Councilman Ken Hopkins and the three Republican candidates for citywide seats on the council issued their own statements regarding the matter.

“An email is circulating throughout the city from my opponent requesting that the council consider passing an ordinance that will eliminate the positions of our friend and coach Officer Matt Davis and Officer Rob Arruda at Cranston High School East and Cranston High School West respectively,” Sailer’s statement reads. “While my opponent’s concern might be an issue in other municipalities, it cannot be further from the truth in Cranston. This ordinance is very dangerous from a public safety standpoint especially since there has been no recent incidence of police misconduct on CPS property namely from our resource officers. Officers Davis and Arruda are wildly respected figures at both of our high schools and provide students with positive interactions with law enforcement and are more importantly role models to each and every student that attend our high schools. Removing these positions would be a terrible move.”

Hopkins, in his statement, called the proposals outlined in Germain’s email “misguided ideas.”

“From our elementary grades to our high schools, Cranston police officers have been wonderful resources and support for our students,” Hopkins said. “The outreach from our police department in our school grades has been very well received by students, families and staff members.”

He continued: “I hope this is not the beginning of some effort to try and defund our police department. As a councilman and as the next mayor, I will stand firm in support of our police department. The small allocation of dollars for the protection and benefit of our school students is well worth the money.”

The statement from the three GOP citywide hopefuls – Robert Ferri, Nicole Renzulli and Don Roach – is headlined “Republican citywide team stands with Sailer on safety.”

“As a black man, I get the concerns around systemic racism Councilwoman Germain is trying to raise. I have experienced racism in my own life. But just as I hate when people judge me by the color of my skin, I think that Councilwoman Germain may have prematurely misjudged the SROs without taking the time to understand their impact to our community,” Roach said in the statement. “I believe black lives matter and I also believe that we too often pit police/safety officers against people of color in our communities. I feel this proposal continues the antagonism instead of mending relations.”

“Councilwoman Germain brought up a very poignant issue that is present in this country. However, I 100% agree with Zac Sailer and I don’t believe it is safe to assume that this is an issue specific to Cranston. We need to look into the things we perceive as problems in order to effectively solve them,” Renzulli said.

“I fully support our resource officers … They are mentors to the students; something we need in our community,” Ferri said.