With less than two weeks to go before the filing deadline, only three people have filed for four open seats on Lawrence’s school board.

There were no filings Tuesday, according to Keith Campbell, Douglas County’s deputy of elections. The filing deadline for the April 3 election is noon Jan. 23.

At least four candidates are expected; Rich Minder, who was elected to the board four years ago, said Tuesday he would file soon for a second term.

Board member Leonard Ortiz has said he was leaning against running again.

Board president Sue Morgan and board member Cindy Yulich are planning to leave the board.

Marlene Merrill, a former director of assessments for the school district who now works for the Kansas City, Kan., school district, filed in late December.

Two candidates filed Monday: Victor Sisk, a former band director at Lawrence High School, and Robert Rauktis, a retired physician.

Rauktis, 55, said Tuesday he is making his first foray into politics.

Rauktis described himself as a nontraditional student at Kansas University, studying teaching English as a second language.

He said he was drawn into the race mainly because of recent news stories that few candidates had emerged for four spots on the board.

Joking that “daytime TV and reality TV is pretty boring,” Rauktis said he thought he could better use his time by serving on the school board.

A Lawrence resident since December 2000, Rauktis said he was speaking recently about politics with former state Rep. Betty Jo Charlton, who represented most of eastern Lawrence in the Statehouse from 1980 to 1994.

Rauktis said he had formed no positions on any school-related topics.

“I’m educating myself on the issues and constructing a sensible stance,” he said.

Rauktis said he was a fiscal conservative.

“Being a single taxpayer, I raise my eyebrows at some of these expenses,” he said.