Three finalists for superintendent of the Russellville Independent Schools are to be interviewed by the board of education next week.
     Those finalists are Mark Davis, who has been principal of Greenwood High School in Warren County for a dozen years; Dr. Anthony Sanders, principal of Christian County Career and Technical Center in Hopkinsville; and Leon Smith, principal of Washington County High School in Springfield the past four years.
     The names of the finalists were presented to the board at a called meeting Friday by Phil Eason, Senior Educational Consultant for Bowling Green-based Leadership Strategies Group, which the board has hired to coordinate the selection process. He worked with a selection committee which whittled the list of applicants from 17 to the trio of finalists.
     Members of the Russellville Schools Superintendent Selection Screening Committee were Phillip West - board member representative, Mary Celsor - Parent Representative, John Myers - Principal Representative, Claudia Crump - Teacher Representative, Ken Brown - Teacher Representative and Ann Mosier - Classified Employee Representative. They didn't interview the applicants but went through the resumes and made phone calls if they had questions.
     The board of education is required to consider the recommendations of the screening committee, but the board isn't required to appoint a superintendent from the committee’s recommendation.
     The position is vacant because the previous superintendent, Roger Cook, resigned to accept a superintendency near his hometown.
     Chairman James Milam said the board will meet with Eason Wednesday to develop a set of questions to ask the candidates during interviews. "We want to treat them all the same," siad Milam, who praised Eason for keeping the search at a professional level.
    Then the three candidates will be interviewed on consecutive days next week, April 17-19.
    The August meeting of the board has been delayed a week until Aug. 25. "It's possible that we could hire a new superintendent that night. Or we could choose to go another direction," said Milam, who hopes to secure the services of the new chief administrator for eight years.
     Jim Young, who served as Russellville superintenent for many years before retiring in the nineties, is serving as interim superintendent.