The first official candidate has filed to run for the Lawrence school board.

Vanessa Sanburn, a Kansas University graduate student in social work, filed her petition Thursday morning, said Douglas County Clerk Jamie Shew.

Sanburn moved to Lawrence recently with her husband and daughter from Wichita.

“One of the things that drew my family to the Lawrence community was the school system here. It certainly ranked high, and we feel like the community is a great community,” Sanburn said.

She worked for three years as a health educator and community organizer for Planned Parenthood until she left the job to pursue her master’s degree.

Her daughter now attends kindergarten at Woodlawn School, 508 Elm St. Sanburn said she planned to work with legislators to advocate for public policy, especially during difficult budget times.

“I really strongly believe in using sound scientific data and not ideology to make decisions,” Sanburn said.

Three school board seats will be up during the April election as terms expire for Craig Grant, Linda Robinson and John Mitchell.

Tom Hartley, a territory representative for Forest Pharmaceuticals and the former chairman of the Douglas County Democrats, has announced he planned to file, and Mitchell, director of the Kansas Department of Health and Environment’s division of environment, has announced he would likely run for a second term.

The deadline to file is noon Tuesday.