To the editor: Silence is not the choice Chester’s Select Board and school board should have made

In a town meeting, you don’t expect silence to be the loudest thing in the room. Yet at our most recent Chester Select Board meeting, you could have heard the proverbial pin drop.

At this meeting, our Select Board’s duty was to review candidates and provide their endorsement of a candidate, to then be considered for appointment by the board of the Green Mountain Unified School District. Two candidates were presented:  a decades-long Chester resident, mother, former educator, and seasoned family law attorney. The second candidate, a man with a documented history of domestic violence.

One candidate brought experience, competence, and integrity. The other candidate brought a criminal record.

The Chester Select Board, with the exception of Vice Chair Arne Jonynas, chose to endorse no one. The Select Board chose apathy. They chose avoidance. They chose silence.

Jonynas stood alone that night, naming what others refused to acknowledge: that the Select Board had a duty to make a recommendation—and in no uncertain terms should they choose a candidate who just days before had pleaded guilty to domestic assault.

Robert Nied urged the board to take responsibility. Others in the community spoke out. For transparency. For integrity.  We saw who answered the call and who chose silence.

Then, a week later, the silence grew louder.

On Thursday, May 15, the GMUSD board was presented with the same two candidates that had stood before the Select Board for endorsement.

John Keller offered vague, ill-prepared responses that betrayed a lack of understanding of board governance and the realities of public education. Patricia Benelli demonstrated depth, clarity, composure, and integrity—qualities our children desperately need modeled by their public servants.

In an unbelievable display of indifference, the School Board chose neither. They too chose to look away; to make this someone else’s problem.

Even if one were to set aside Mr. Keller’s criminal history of violence—an impossible feat in itself—the fundamental question remains: Was he remotely prepared to serve in a role that requires public trust, educational insight, and civic maturity?

The answer, based on his interview, is unequivocally no.

When a candidate like Patricia Benelli isn’t “enough” to warrant appointment—despite her qualifications, her calm leadership, and her obvious preparedness—we must ask ourselves what we value most as a community. How can we, as a community, justify lacking the moral clarity to distinguish between readiness and recklessness?

This is a pattern. A culture. A persistent, exhausting reality where capable women are passed over, silenced, or dismissed, while men—regardless of behavior, qualifications, or impact—are granted deference and credibility.

We live in a world where the highest office in the land has been held by someone accused of multiple acts of violence against women. So maybe it’s no surprise that even here—in a small Vermont town—we hesitate to name what should clearly disqualify someone from holding public trust.

As someone who has experienced direct escalation firsthand from Mr. Keller, I lack the privilege of neutrality. The privilege of silence. Writing this is a risk. But the greater risk is saying nothing.

Think of how many women were in the room on May 8, watching the Select Board—the majority of them men—remain silent, with the exception of Mr. Jonynas, when given the chance to speak up and stand for our collective safety.

Think of the women who then again watched as the School Board—leaders elected to protect the welfare of our students and educators, the majority of them men—also decided that their personal discomfort, or bias, or attempt to dismiss our concerns as “political” was more important than speaking out against a violent individual seeking more power.

Now think of all those women watching this display of indifference—and consider this statistic:
One in two women in Vermont—49%—have experienced domestic violence, sexual violence, or stalking in their lifetime. (Vermont Council on Domestic Violence)

Our elected leaders showed the women watching that our collective experiences, our value, our right to safety were irrelevant. Our Chester Select Board and GMUSD School Board failed our community.

Until we begin to prioritize safety and well-being over convenience and complicity, we will keep failing the people who need us most.

As a woman, as a mother, and as someone committed to the safety of community, I cannot stay silent. And I ask others to stand with me—not just in outrage, but in action. We must demand that our elected leaders stand firm in the belief that violence disqualifies someone in search of power.

Silence, as we’ve now seen, is not neutral. It is a choice.

Silence is betrayal.

Silence is, in fact, violence.

Anne Henshaw
Chester