Groton — Groton Board of Education member Gretchen Newsome said Thursday she is stepping down from the school board, after she received threatening phone calls and emails with insults, and her children were contacted on Facebook.

“To protect my family, I am resigning,” Newsome said.

“I have always kept in mind all the residents of Groton, from the smallest to the retired person who never put a child into the system,” she said. “I wish the town luck. I ask that my family be left out of this.”

The Executive Committee of the Groton Republican Town Committee had voted Wednesday night to recommend that Newsome resign from the Board of Education in the wake of comments she made on social media in June that were shared Tuesday on the Groton Parents Group page on Facebook.

Newsome had commented on the Uncle Sam's Misguided Children Facebook page under a post that included "BE PROUD TO BE WHITE! It's not a crime YET...But getting very close!"

Her reply to another person's comment on the thread included: "Trump has yet to load law abiding citizens into trains and death camps. The violence by the peaceful protestor continues. How many lives will be lost over people acting like uneducated savages. If Trump were a dictator I think I might sleep better. Then this chaos may be done and over."

"Read some history books," she wrote. "Many of the statues being destroyed were good men. They have desecrated the memorial to black northern civil war veterans. Random spray painting in cemeteries. If I had the power I would arrest these thugs who have taken over businesses and neighborhoods. Locked (them) up and sorted it out later. Good people are being hurt. This is America. One Nation! A melting pot. Your (attitude) is heart breaking..."

Newsome said comments were being circulated that were taken out of context and she also found some being passed around that did not come from her. She had apologized Wednesday if her comments hurt anybody.

Superintendent Michael Graner said Newsome submitted a letter to him Thursday that she is resigning, and he asked her to send an official letter to the town clerk and the board chairman.

Graner said Newsome, who was first elected to the Board of Education in 2015, came to the conclusion that stepping down was in the best interest of the district, and they had what he thought was “a very peaceful and calming and healing talk.”

“I thanked her for her service,” Graner said. “She is a very civic-minded person, but in the big picture I certainly agree that it would be in the interest of our public schools for her to step down.”

He said her comments did not reflect the sentiment of the board nor the goals and vision for Groton schools.

He added that he hopes now the healing process can begin for Newsome and the district.

Board of Education Chairwoman Kim Shepardson-Watson said she will recommend the board make a public statement about the experience, so the community is aware that the district and board are embracing anti-racist language, behavior and intention and “that was not at all demonstrated by those posts.”

According to the town charter, a vacancy on the Board of Education is filled by appointment by remaining board members, and the new person is to be of the same political party as the person vacating the seat.

RTC Chairman Paul McGuirk said the RTC will gather the names of interested Republicans, and its Recruitment Committee then will vet them. The RTC then will vote to recommend a candidate to fill the remainder of Newsome’s term.

Shepardson-Watson said the board then will interview the candidate.

Newsome said she also plans to resign from the Republican Town Committee.

The RTC Executive Committee had no further comment on Thursday, but said in a statement Wednesday that it “does not support the language used to describe peaceful protesters” and does not support “the un-American idea of any authoritarian government including dictatorship.”

Groton DTC said in a statement Thursday that it “thinks Ms. Newsome has made the right decision. We need to move forward together and hope a Republican who values diversity will step forward to serve our community.”

k.drelich@theday.com