A Broken Arrow School parent, who has twice run for the Lawrence school board, joined the race Friday for the April election.

Michael Pomes, a geologist for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment, said he wanted his daughter, Jennifer, a fourth-grader, continues to receive a “top-rate education.”

“I want to make sure that she has the opportunity to have the best education possible — the best teachers and the best facilities,” he said.

Pomes ran unsuccessfully for a board seat in 2003 and 2007, but he decided to seek a seat again amid the state’s budget crisis.

“The district has to make those choices to make sure that kids come first in education,” he said.

Pomes is the fourth candidate to file for the April 7 election for three seats.

The seats of board members John Mitchell, Craig Grant and Linda Robinson are up for grabs.

Mitchell, the KDHE’s director of the division of environment, has filed to seek a second term on the board.

Pomes and Mitchell join candidates Vanessa Sanburn, a Woodlawn School parent and Kansas University graduate student, and Tom Hartley, a Sunset Hill School parent, pharmaceutical company representative and former chairman of the Douglas County Democrats.

Pomes and his wife, Marsha, are both active with Broken Arrow’s PTA, and he also participates in the school’s “Watch DOGS” program, which places parents in the school during the day.

Pomes also said if he was elected, he can bring different groups to the table for discussions. Members of the Centennial Neighborhood Association last year sued the school district over plans to build new athletic facilities near Lawrence High School. A recent settlement — where no money exchanged hands — created amendments to the plan.

The school board filling deadline is noon Tuesday.