IRVINE

With the November election still nearly four months away, at least five Irvine residents are likely to run for three seats on the Irvine Unified School District’s Board of Education.

Trustees Margie Wakeham and Steven S. Choi do not face reelection until 2002, which leaves the city’s voters with three seats to fill on the five-member board.

Jeanne Flint, the board’s president, and Trustee Karen Preston are expected to enter the race. The Irvine Teachers Assn. endorsed Sandy Hayman, a litigation specialist, Carolyn McInerney, president of the Irvine Public Schools Foundation, and Sal Morreale, an institutional broker, in June.

With more than a decade of volunteer experience in Irvine schools, Sue Kuwabara also said she will run for a trustee’s seat.

Candidates for the school board will have to file papers with the registrar of voters between July 17 and Aug. 11.