SEQUIM — School Board leaders have narrowed the field of applicants for Sequim School District superintendent to five and expect to publicly announce March 22 an offer to the candidate the board plans to hire.

The board met in closed executive session Tuesday night to discuss the applicants and came up with a list of semifinalists.

The names of the candidates were withheld until they announce the final three candidates March 10, said School Board President Sarah Bedinger.

The district got 26 applications for the position that will be vacated June 30 by Superintendent Bill Bentley, who announced his resignation last year after five years with the district.

Of five superintendent searches the School Board’s consultant firm, McPherson & Jacobson, is conducting statewide, Bedinger said, “We had the highest number of applicants,” save for Olympia.

School Board Vice President Virginia O’Neil said she was pleased.

“We had a very healthy pool of candidates,” she said.

After conducting semifinalist interviews March 10, the board will narrow the field to three.

One-a-day interviews

Board members will interview the three finalists, one a day, on March 19, 20 and 21.

It plans to meet with its consulting firm March 22 to decide on making an offer to one of the finalists.

The interview process will include up to 15 “citizen observers” the board is now recruiting who will attend closed meetings during the interviews, Bedinger said.

The observers will not be allowed to speak during each interview, Bedinger said, but they will be allowed to give written feedback and talk to board members individually.

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Sequim-Dungeness Valley Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-681-2391 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.