A member of the School Committee, Sarah Philips, motioned for the resolution due to mounting evidence of the damaging effect having police officers on a school’s campus has on young students. The motion was aggressively supported by the mayor, Joseph Curtatone and several other members from various wards, according to Liberation News. There was only one opposing vote. 

Molly Fraust-Wylie, the mother of a second-grader said she was shocked police were ever allowed to take the children away. 

“This first step towards removing police from schools is the beginning of restoring my faith in our school system to be a safe place for all children,” Fraust-Wylie said. 

Flavia Peréa said the vote is a move in the right direction. In Nov. 2019, her first-grade son was reported to the police and Department of Children and Families after a female student said that he touched her inappropriately.

Peréa has argued that the school overreacted and did not follow state law. She said if a child is not sexually aware, the report is unnecessary.    

“There is really an entrenched police culture here in Somerville and it exists without any oversight,” Peréa said. “The police are clearly involved with schools for things that are not a public emergency. It’s a mess. You have principals calling the police on little kids and they don’t realize the rat nest parents have to go through to get rid of these records.”

Peréa’s son now has a criminal record which she has fought to try and get expunged. For the past 18 months, she has organized with other teachers and activists who were inspired by her son’s story. She later launched a website to detail all the work that’s been done thus far.   

The campaign group Justice for Flavia is working to remove police from schools and has led the way to fight the young boy’s criminal record. In April, the campaign contacted Mayor Curtatone, the superintendent and the School Committee via a letter signed by 400 people.