Teachers teach
Keep great educators in the classroom. A Chromebook is not a substitute for a teacher at the front of the room. For our youngest learners: reading first, with phonics, real books, and handwriting before extra screens.
Candidate for the St. Joseph Public Schools Board
Less screen time.
Smarter spending.
Better outcomes.
I’m Brandon Sheskey — a dad of four, an SJPS parent, and a 15-year St. Joseph neighbor. St. Joe has great schools, and great schools check their work. The basics still matter: a teacher in the room, a book in a child’s hands, and a budget the public can follow.
Nov 3Election Day, 2026
2seats open · six-year terms
NowAbsentee ballots are out
Meet Brandon
Fifteen years here. Still asking for the receipt.
Dad of 4
SJPS parent · Upton PTO
15 years in St. Joseph
14 years in finance and analytics
We made St. Joseph home 15 years ago. For 14 years I’ve worked in finance and analytics, and today I lead a team whose job is to find out whether the money an organization spends actually produced the result it was spent on. I do that every day, on budgets a lot larger than ours.
I’ve been knocking on doors across this district since summer. Nearly everyone tells me the same thing: they trust our teachers, and they want to know where the money goes.
St. Joseph already has great teachers. They don’t need another app in front of a kindergartner. They need classrooms they can teach in, books students can hold, and spending the public can actually see.
The plan
How we get there.
The board hires and evaluates the superintendent, approves the budget and the calendar, and sets policy. It doesn’t run buildings day to day, and it doesn’t discipline individual students.
If you can’t explain it at the grocery store, it doesn’t belong on the agenda.
Check the Chromebooks
Every K–3 student got a Chromebook, and third-grade math went down. No one has formally checked whether the two are connected. I’ll ask for a post-implementation review, done with our teachers, and written K–5 screen-time limits so every parent knows what to expect.
Math back to 71%
Third-grade math proficiency used to be 71%. That’s the goal: get back to it, report progress every year in plain numbers, and adjust if what we’re doing isn’t working.
A public receipt
Your taxes deserve a receipt. I’ll push for a one-page, plain-English budget posted every year, and no new taxes without better results.
Voters approved a $59.9 million bond in November 2025. The job now is to make sure every dollar lands where it was promised, with real dates on each project and a simple report on what got fixed at which building.
Honest class size
A district-wide ratio is a staffing average, not the number of children in a given room. Families should see actual class sizes by building and grade, published every year. A significant share of our students also arrive through Schools of Choice. I’m not against choice. I’m for knowing the number, building by building, because it drives class sizes in the early grades.
Leave it better
Stronger reading and math. A board that talks like neighbors, not a press release. Finish the term with the district in better shape than we found it.
The motto
“Teachers should teach our kids. Not an app. Not another screen.”
Honor the teachers. Keep extra screens out of the early grades. Show the work on the budget. That’s how St. Joseph stays St. Joseph.
Your ballot
Vote by Tuesday, November 3, 2026
The school board race is in the nonpartisan section of your ballot. Two six-year seats are open, three candidates filed, and you can vote for up to two.
01
Check your registration
Look yourself up at michigan.gov/vote to confirm your address and find your polling place.
02
Voting absentee?
Ballots are in the mail now. Sign the envelope and return it to your city or township clerk by 8 p.m. on November 3. You can track it at michigan.gov/vote.
03
Voting in person?
Vote early October 24 through November 1, or at your polling place on November 3. Bring a photo ID. If you don’t have one, you can sign an affidavit and still vote.
Official info: Michigan Secretary of State elections · Berrien County · St. Joseph Public Schools
Join in
Yard sign, coffee, or a hard question.
Put up a yard sign
A sign on a street people actually drive is one of the few things in a school board race that reliably moves votes. If you have a corner lot or a busy road, you are worth more than you think. I will bring it and put it up.
Text me for a yard signGot it — thank you. Brandon reads these himself and will get back to you. If it is urgent, text (269) 369-1553.