Storey County School Board members selected three candidates to fill the superintendent position and two alternates from a pool of ten Tuesday.
"I think the board made some very good choices," said Dave Noonan, search consultant for the board and chairman of the Department of Educational Leadership at the University of Nevada, Reno. "I never second guess a board in who they choose. However, those candidates were also very high on my list as to who I chose as an individual."
The board selected Henry Kilmer from Gooding, Idaho, Carmi Wells from Kessler School in Montana and Jay Cason from Kellogg, Mich.
Philip Knight of Ulysses, Kan., and Woody Barwick of New Market, Ind., were chosen as alternates.
Board Member Bob Kershaw said he made his selection based on the individual's experience as superintendent and expertise in passing bonds.
"I'm looking for a superintendent who has been a superintendent for a while," he said. "I don't want to be a training ground."
Noonan said he will call the three candidates today to tell them that they were selected. Interviews will then be scheduled with each one.
Board President Carol McCracken said she hopes to have the interviews completed by the April 18 meeting.
Noonan said they conducted a national search with 120 official inquiries. There were 56 official applicants from around the country with 11 from California, nine from Nevada and three each from Alabama and Arizona.
"We had a very good geographic representation," Noonan said.
Of the 56 candidates, 10 were selected by a screening committee made up of eight members of the community.
"They worked two straight days screening the applicants and they really did a fine job," Noonan said.
Noonan recommended that in addition to the interviews, the candidates be taken on a tour of the schools and spend an hour talking with each principal.
Former superintendent Dan Piel resigned last July and Bob Scott has been serving as interim.