Another candidate has filed to run in Lawrence’s April 3 school board election – Michael Pomes, who was also a candidate for school board four years ago.

Pomes, 43, is an environmental scientist who runs the permitting program for storage tanks for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.

Pomes, who filed this afternoon in the Douglas County Clerk’s office, is the sixth candidate seeking one of the four seats opening up on the board.

During the 2003 election, Pomes finished in eighth place in the primary election and in eighth place in the general election.

He said he was running again in hopes of the getting the board to better communicate with the public and to increase accessibility for the handicapped.

He said he also had concerns that the board’s wellness policy was coming from top administrators, not from students, parents and faculty.

Pomes is a member of the Park Hill Neighborhood Association and the Broken Arrow Elementary School PTA. He is also helping to organize a Watch D.O.G.S. (Dads of Good Standing) program at Broken Arrow, where fathers spend a day at the school.

Pomes is also a public affairs specialist in the Topeka-based 102nd Military History Detachment of the Kansas National Guard.

The other five candidates who have filed are board member Rich Minder, who is seeking re-election to a second term; Michael Machell, a human resources officer who commutes to Lenexa; Victor Sisk, a former Lawrence High School band director; Robert Rauktis, a retired physician who is studying to teach English as a second language at Kansas University; and Marlene Merrill, a former assessment director for the school district.

The filing deadline is noon Jan. 23.

Leonard Ortiz, whose four-year term will also expire this year, has said he is leaning against running.

Board president Sue Morgan and board member Cindy Yulich said they will not seek re-election.

If more than eight candidates file, a primary will be held on Feb. 27.