No one filed today to run for the school board.

With the end of the filing period less than a week away at noon July 17, several announced candidates haven't officially stepped forward yet.

Two candidates backed by the Wake Schools Community Alliance, Chris Malone in District 1 and the mystery candidate in District 9, have yet to show up at the Board of Elections. But Joe Ciulla, who is vetting candidates for the WSCA, said both people still plan to file.

Arnold Osborn hasn't filed in District 2. But you'd think he'd go through with it after having created his own t-shirts and mugs.

Lois Nixon hasn't filed in District 9. But it's only a matter of time as political strategist Perry Woods is helping her.

Will the mystery candidate please step forward for the District 9 school board seat?

Joe Ciulla, a member of the steering committee for Wake Schools Community Alliance, said they have agreed on an endorsement for the District 9 seat that includes much of Cary. But he said they're not announcing the endorsement until that person announces his/her candidacy.

This means the endorsement won't be going to Ray Martin, a Chapel Hill teacher, or Lois Nixon, an environmental educator. Both have announced their plans to run for the school board.

It's pretty clear from Rita Rakestraw's campaign kickoff event that she really likes the diversity policy and folk music.

Rakestraw told the crowd on Thursday that a main part of her platform for the school board is protecting the diversity policy. She later ended the event by pulling out a guitar and playing a pair of folk tunes.

"I want to make sure all our schools are socioeconomicially diverse," Rakestraw said. "That is really important. In terms of academic achievement, diversity is what we need."

It's probably appropriate that Rita Rakestraw will officially "kick off" her campaign tonight for the school board at a martial arts academy.

Rakestraw's kickoff event will be at 7 p.m. at Black Belt USA, 300 Black Belt World Drive in Knightdale. She's been campaigning since March but tonight's event coincides with the official start of the candidate filing period on Monday.

Starting at 8:30 a.m. Monday and running through noon on July 17, candidates can officially file with the Wake County Board of Elections for the four school board seats on this year's ballot.

The candidate field for the District 1 school board race is getting crowded and possibly a little muddied.

As noted in today's North Raleigh News article, three candidates plan to run active campaigns. In addition to Chris Malone and Rita Rakestraw, you can add Debbie Vair to the list of people who want to replace Lori Millberg, who is not running for another term.

With Vair apparently reaching out to the same people as Malone, things could get easier for Rakestraw on Election Day.

The Wake Schools Community Alliance isn't wasting any time making an endorsement in the District 1 school board race.

The WSCA sent out a press release Tuesday evening announcing the endorsement of former Wake Forest Town Commissioner Chris Malone for the seat being vacated by Lori Millberg. Malone only announced his candidacy on Friday although rumors about his interest in the seat have been floating around the community for months.

This is the second time the WSCA has issued an endorsement within days of a candidate coming forward. Just two days after Deborah Prickett announced her candidacy in District 7, the group endorsed her.

Former Wake Forest Town Commissioner Chris Malone announced today that he's running for the District 1 school board seat being vacated by Lori Millberg.

It's a pretty crowded field. Rita Rakestraw and Otis Tyrone Lindsey have both filed paperwork to create campaign committees.

Here's the press release: