A fourth applicant, Crittenden County Public Library Assistant Director Kathleen Guess, was disqualified because she works for local government.
Interviews are scheduled for Tuesday, March 28 at the Crittenden County Board of Education central office, according to Nancy Rodriguez, a spokesperson for KDE.
"Following the interview, a recommendation will be drafted and forwarded to the Commissioner of Education Stephen Pruitt for consideration," she said.
Interviews will be conducted by a panel of designees from outside the county appointed by Pruitt. The panel will consist of individuals from an array of educational interests from across the state, including other boards of education. It will not include anyone from the local school district or board of education.
Pruitt will make the final call on selecting a new board member by April 26. He will review the panel's recommendation, but is not bound by it. He may select any of the three candidates. The new board member will serve the remainder of Orr's unexpired term, which ends December 2018. He may run in the non-partisan 2018 general election to keep the seat.
All applicants are from Educational District 5, which was represented by Orr for 15 years prior to her resignation in January due to health reasons. The district includes voters in Precincts 3, 6 and 12 and is an area east of U.S. 641 and south of U.S. 60 East to Fishtrap Road and continuing south of Fishtrap, Nunn Switch and Cool Springs roads.
The appointee will begin his service immediately.
For more on this article, including interviews with the candidate, see the March 16 printed issue of The Crittenden Press.
