With three weeks remaining until the filing deadline, candidate filings have been sparse for city government and school board positions in Baldwin City and Eudora.

The Baldwin City and Eudora school boards have each had an incumbent board member file for reelection, and the mayors of the two communities filed last month, as the Journal-World previously reported.

On the Baldwin City school board, Chris Perry is seeking reelection to the District 3, Position 6 seat. He was first elected to the seat that represents the southern third of the school district in 2017.

Perry said he was seeking another term to help ensure continuity on the board and in the district — something he said was even more critical after an “interesting and challenging” year in which the board, district staff, parents and students had to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Perry has three daughters in elementary school and has worked in education for 15 years. In his career, he’s held positions as a paraprofessional, a special education teacher and a state employee tasked with helping districts implement school improvement plans. Starting July 1, he will become an independent consultant contracting with districts to help schools use data analytics to identify and help students who suffered academically from the pandemic, he said.

Perry is one of three board members whose current terms will end in January 2022. The others are Phillip Harvey, who represents District 1, Position 4 in the northwestern portion of the school district; and Susan Schiffelbein, who represents District 2, Position 5 in the northeastern third of the school district.

Meanwhile, in Eudora, incumbent Samantha Arredondo is the only candidate to have filed for a school board seat so far. Unlike the other seats up for election this year, which are four-year terms, Arredondo will be running for two more years on the board; she said that’s because she was not elected to the board, but was rather appointed to serve the last two years of an unexpired term when the board had a vacancy.

Arredondo said she is seeking another two years so she can help continue the work of recent boards. High on her list of priorities is supporting the district’s staff and faculty and building the board’s relationship with Stu Moeckel, who will start July 1 as the district’s new superintendent.

The Eudora school board members are continuing to keep a close eye on the district’s growth by monitoring such things as class sizes, faculty positions and facility needs, Arredondo said. There has been some discussion of a bond issue to address facilities needs, but the board has not yet developed a plan or made a decision on that issue, she said.

Three four-year at-large board seats are up for election in Eudora this year, as well. They are currently held by Mike Kelso, Joe Hurla and Eric Votaw.

The only candidates who have filed for Baldwin City or Eudora city government positions are the current mayors of the two communities. Last month, Casey Simoneau filed for another four-year term as Baldwin City mayor and Tim Reazin filed for another four years on the Eudora City Commission, which elects one of its members to serve as mayor. Reazin has served as Eudora mayor the last five years.

The terms of two members of the Baldwin City Council — Brian Cramer and Susan Pitts — will expire in January 2022. In addition to Reazin’s seat, another seat on the Eudora City Commission will be expiring in January 2022; that seat is currently held by Jolene Born.

The filing deadline for city government and school board seats is June 1. This year’s primary elections will be Aug. 3, and the general election will be Nov. 2.