GMUSD appoints Jerry Ucci new Chester rep

 

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2025 Telegraph Publishing

Tuck Wunderle told the Green Mountain Unified School District board – on which he served – that he would be resigning to take a fellowship at a graduate school.

That was at the board’s April 17 meeting, which, under state law, also started a 30-day clock during which the district would advertise for candidates, consult with the Select Board regarding those candidates and then meet to interview and chose one to take Wunderle’s place until elections are held in March 2026.

Last week, on Thursday, July 17, 61 days late, the board finally accomplished that task by voting 4 – 3 to put Chester resident Jerry Ucci on the board. Penny Benelli received one vote while Ryan Anderson, a newcomer to local public service, got two.

Here are The Telegraph’s previous articles on the issue:

• July 16: GM Board finds no Open Meeting violation but agrees to Open Meeting training
• July 9:  GM board member complains of improper executive session
• June 2: GM board votes down sole candidate; to restart the process of filling Chester vacancy
• May 23: GM school board to hold special meeting to revisit board appointment, complaint
• May 20: News Analysis: More questions than answers to fill a school board seat
• May 14: Chester board punts making school board rep recommendation 

But it’s been said that history doesn’t repeat itself, rather that it rhymes. At the board’s previous meeting, seven days before, when it voted to deny that it had violated the state’s Open Meeting Law, it also voted to extend the cost of tuition to Springfield High to the daughter of a board member because she had been bullied at GM. According to a report by the Agency of Education, the secondary school tuition for Springfield High for the 2025-26 school year is $26,400.  Because there was not a quorum, that vote was invalid and a second vote had to be taken last week. The result was the same.

After the vote, Chester resident Bev Hart, speaking over Zoom, harshly to the board, saying that her granddaughter had appeared before the board two and a half years ago to speak about her experience of being bullied at GM. “Fix the problem,” Hart said, “instead of sending them to other places. Fix it.”