EDITOR'S NOTE: The initial version of this story incorrectly reported that South Bend Community School Corp. trustee candidate George Jones is a former district communications director. In fact, another man named George Jones formerly held that job with the district.
The slate of candidates running for school board positions in St. Joseph County is now set, thanks to a new state law which moved the deadline to file up by two months.
The new statute means both voters in the South Bend and Penn-Harris-Madison districts can start preparing for what are shaping up to be hotly contested elections.
South Bend
In South Bend, there will be at least a few new faces on the South Bend school board come next year as four of the board’s seven seats are on the ballot and two current board members aren’t running for reelection.
Two of the seats up for election are at-large seats currently held by John Anella and Jeannette McCullough. Only McCullough is seeking another term.
McCullough joins five candidates vying for the two at-large seats including Gabe Kempf who made headlines running for a school board seat in 2022 as an 18-year-old and Lynn King — who is the husband of the district’s transportation director and was awarded a large bussing contract by the district in 2021.
Joining them are Kyla Henderson, Marcus Ellison and George Jones.
In District 3 incumbent Leslie Wesley is not running for a third term and the familiar name of Bill Sniadecki is on the ballot to try and take her place. In the past two elections, Sniadecki has lost to Wesley by 46 and 16 votes respectively. Catrina Baker, who is listed as the founder of the nonprofit organization Thee Outlet, will be on the ballot against Sniadecki.
Board member Stephanie Ball will also look to retain her 4th District seat against challengers Annette Malone, who nearly won the seat in 2020, and Carlos Leyva.
District 3 (choose one)
William Sniadecki
Catrina Baker
District 4 (choose one)
Stephanie Ball
Annette Malone
Carlos Leyva
At-Large (choose two)
Jeanette McCullough
Gabe Kempf
George Jones
Lynn King
Marcus Ellison
Kyla Henderson
Penn-Harris-Madison
Meanwhile P-H-M's school board has seen some drama recently. Last month the rest of the Penn-Harris-Madison school board asked fellow board member Matt Chaffee to resign amid allegations that he hired prostitutes.
As of Friday Chaffee has not resigned and now his father, and longtime P-H-M administrator, Doug Chaffee is running for a school board seat.
Doug Chaffee is running for one of two Penn Township seats up for election this cycle. Running against Chaffee are current board members Jim Garrett and Ryan McCullough, as well as Katie Bell and Ben Dallas.
Like Matt Chaffee, Dallas has been a vocal critic of the P-H-M board and has railed against the administration’s COVID masking policies and claims the district is pushing critical race theory.
Though school board candidates are not allowed to run in affiliation with any political party, Dallas has put down the acronym "MAGA" as his designated nickname in his campaign filing. Whether that’s allowed to stand on the ballot will most likely be up to the St. Joseph County Election Board.
A Harris Township seat is also on the ballot. Running in that race to replace Clare Roach are longtime P-H-M board member Gary Fox and Art Klinger, who was the former head of the district’s planetarium and had the planetarium named after him earlier this year.
Harris Township (choose one)
Gary Fox
Art Klinger
Penn Township (choose two)
Ryan McCullough
Jim Garrett
Ben Dallas
Doug Chaffee
Katie Bell
Mishawaka
In Mishawaka, school board incumbents Mellissa Johnson and Angela Layman are running unopposed for reelection.
