Three candidates have qualified for the Oct. 17 District 9 St. Tammany Parish School Board election. Current school board member Mike Gambrell is not among them.

Qualifying for the race is Democrat Rachel Jones of Pearl River, Republican “Randy” Caire of Pearl River and Republican Robin Mullett of Slidell.

The seat became vacant in January when long-time board member Carmen Johnson had to resign the post after 10 years due to a change in employment that conflicted with meetings. Gambrell, a commercial banker, was appointed by the board to fill Johnson’s seat.

District 9 of the school board includes Clearwood Junior High School and Whispering Forest Elementary School and precincts 801, 802, 803, 804, S-01, S-02 and S-05.

Three applicants won nominations for the seat from school board members in January. They included Kathryne Delcarpio, a retired teacher of 33 years experience, nominated by Daniel Zechenelly; Elizabeth Weller, nominated by Mary K. Bellisario; and Gambrell, nominated by Ronnie Panks, who won the appointment. Neither of the other two nominees chose to run for the office in the upcoming election.

At the time of Johnson’s resignation, school board president John Lamarque explained what would be expected of the new board member, including: attendance at all meetings, including committee as a whole meetings; adherence to a code of ethics, including the possibility of conflict of interest with a member’s business; and a requirement of financial disclosure statements for the board member and their spouse. The election in October is a special election to fulfill the seat. The general election for all school board seats will be held October 2010.